Just My Luck
by marshmallow.dtk
Summary: 15 year old Sawada Tsunayoshi finds out that the origin of his awful luck is the cursed mark on his shoulder he thought was only a birthmark. Just when he thinks things can't get weirder, he finds out his friend has the same mark, only on his knee...AU!
1. Loserville just gained a member

Hey guys:) I'm back with a whopper, this time in the form of an AU story. I'm not going to write so much here because sometimes it's a bore to read prologues. So, read the story to find out for yourself!

All characters belong to Amano-sensei, never forget that.

* * *

_Chapter One: _

_We're the walking targets_

_or, more conveniently known as,  
_

_You got it wrong: Loserville has a population of TWO_

The wind blew gently as a large branch from a tree fell and hit an unsuspecting kid walking in the school fields, causing his face to hit hard gravel and his worksheets to be scattered all over the floor.

Letting out a groan, he rubbed his head. Well, at any rate, there wasn't any blood, thank god for that. It hurt like hell anyway.

It wasn't really the branch's fault, though. This type of thing always happened to him; he was already kind of lucky that it had been only a branch and not the whole tree that had fallen on him.

It was just him that was very, very unlucky.

Introducing Sawada Tsunayoshi. Turning fifteen. Self-declared the unluckiest guy in the whole of the area. All the time, no matter what he did, something bad was bound to happen. I mean, who would trip on his own shoelace sixteen times in a row while on the way to school? Who COULD? He was damn certain that he was the only one that could allow that to happen to him. Yes, there was probably something out there that eternally cursed his luck, and one day he'd find it. And destroy it.  
And, well, make it curse someone else if it couldn't be destroyed.

Suddenly, he heard someone approaching. He stiffened for a moment, then quickly began picking his things up and dumping them into his bag. He had to leave.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna!"

Frantically, he sprung up, grabbing his stuff, searching for the nearest exit in panic. The older kid approached, cracking his knuckles menacingly, a rather sadistic smile plastered to his face.

"So, wanna continue the fun we were having from recess?"

Mochida. Captain of the Namimori Kendo club. Enjoyed showing off his guts and manliness in the form of harassing and cursing at helpless little kids.

That conveniently included Tsuna.

In his head, the smaller-sized kid screamed NO in extreme protest. Fun was just a paraphrase of "let's see who can beat Tsuna up the worst first without any reason", and he hated it. Out of the whole school, he was probably the only lucky kid that bore the privilege to be subjected to this 'fun', and he didn't know why at all.

After all, this wasn't his first. He'd been bullied in middle school, and even in Kindergarten he'd been the class' punching bag.

Facing the bully, Tsuna squeaked, "N-no! I-I have to g-go!"

And he ran as fast as his legs could take him, dashing out of the school and the bully's grasp.

And that concluded Tsuna's fifth day in Namimori high school.

xxx

Heaving a sigh, the brown-haired teen flopped onto his bed, his hair still damp from the shower he had taken earlier. It felt great to be back in his room. After all, the only place he felt safe in was here, his house; where it was just him and his parents, and since they were on a long vacation in Italy, it was just him and him alone...oh wait. Cross that last bit out.

"Dame-Tsuna! I just received some interesting articles in the mail from your ex-teachers back in middle school. They're math papers and they're not looking pretty. AT ALL."

Not to mention his cousin aka tuition teacher. He made a face. Okay, so it wasn't all peaceful and relaxing in his house. Running his fingers through his messy hair, he headed downstairs to the kitchen, where his cousin sat, holding out multiple tests that meant that Sawada Tsunayoshi of class 3D was in deep shit.

"A-ah... I can totally explain this-"

The other taller male shook his head sternly and jabbed the papers with his finger. "Explain why there are so many red marks on this sheet of paper ALONE."

"Uhh...actually, some of those are ketchup stains." Tsuna twiddled his thumbs.

The older male sighed. "If you keep on failing, you know what's going to happen."

"...Become a loser?"

"No, you already are. What I mean is this-" Swiftly, he pulled something out of his jacket pocket, a HOLY COW green gun.

Tsuna ducked behind the sofa as the gun tip was pointed in his direction. "W-WHAT! Is that even a real gun?"

His cousin smirked. "Wanna find out?"

He screamed as a finger reached for the trigger. "REBORN! _PLEASE_, HELL NO!"

Reborn. His real name was unknown, and so was his age, except that Tsuna knew that he was at least nine years older than himself.

Reborn was from Italy, a much older cousin from his father's side of the family. He was fluent in multiple languages: English, Italian, German, French, Russian; you name it, he spoke it. He was a genius at math, and even knew Morse code, sign language and how to handle weaponry. Not to mention that he was pretty good looking.

In other words, Reborn was very much cooler than Tsuna, who was a klutz, sucked at math and didn't really know how to do anything well.

Putting away the gun (was it a toy?), Reborn smirked and stood up, leaving the miserable-looking math papers on the desk. "I'm going for a meeting now. Behave and stay at home. Do your homework or else. You MUST not leave the house. Got it? Sure you do. See you."

And before he could even respond, Reborn was out of sight.

Tsuna, still quivering slightly from the earlier shock, stood up from behind the couch and walked back to where his cousin had sat. He pouted. Meeting my foot. He was probably sneaking away to meet his girlfriend, Bianchi. She was the other Italian in town, and was known as the poison scorpion due to her affinity with the little creatures (she kept them as pets at home) and her supposedly deadly charm. Apparently, rumors had spread that her last boyfriend had died of food poisoning…as well as the one before him, and the one before the one before…

He shivered. _Dangerous woman…_Collecting the papers from the table, he began climbing the stairs back to his room. He'd worry about Reborn getting food poisoning some other day; besides, his cousin would be able to take care of himself if anything happened. He had to worry about himself and his grades for now.

Placing his tests on his table, he sat on his bed. Guess he'd start by taking out his homework file.

That…was not in his bag. Or anywhere in the house, for that matter.

_Oh shit._ Tsuna slapped himself. He'd dropped his file while running from school.

That meant he'd have to go back and search for his file, potentially getting a scolding from Reborn and an ambush by bullies.

On the other hand, if he didn't take his file back home, Reborn would probably shoot him.

Back to school it was.

Sighing, he lay back into the comfort of his bed. He'd get his file later, when there was nobody in school so that he'd be left alone when he retrieved his file. Not that Reborn would notice him leaving the house or anything…right? Leaning to his side, he rubbed his left shoulder, wincing as it still ached from the impact of the stupid tree branch that had fallen on him just about an hour ago. Lifting his sleeve and looking at the sore spot, he frowned.

His birthmark. His ugly, creepy birthmark. It was black-no, deep purple, and it took the form of a…spiral…. _a freaking spiral. _

He hated that mark on his shoulder. It had been there ever since he was born and he downright _hated_ it. Every time he looked at it he could feel chills running down his spine, like it was a bad omen or something.

A bad omen? On him? How fitting. It would go perfectly with his theory about him and his bad-luck curse.

But it was a birthmark, his mother had told him. It was just a special birthmark.

Or was it? Perhaps it was more than just that…

Tsuna tore his gaze away from his birthmark and shook his head frantically. _No way! Why am I even THINKING about it? Geez! _

Frankly, it was hard to believe either way. For one, that mark was definitely not ordinary. On the other hand, why would he, of all people, be involved in mystical stuff?

God, he needed to stop thinking about it.

Shivering, he sat up and took a glance at the clock.

It was nearing six. Time to go get his file, huh. Getting up slowly, he patted his left sleeve down and looked out of the window. The coast was clear.

xxx

Five minutes later, he was panting as he slowed down while reaching the nearest shelter: a tree.

Drenched from head to toe, he leaned against the trunk. School was just a block away; maybe he'd make a dash for it, get his file, and run all the way back. He rolled his eyes at the sky.

_Oh fine; rain the moment my shoe comes into contact with the pavement! _It was true: the moment he'd stepped out of the house it had begun drizzling, and it wasn't long before it had turned into a thunderstorm.

Speaking of thunderstorms…Tsuna looked up. Perhaps he should continue running. He screamed as a lightning bolt struck not so far away and began running for his apparent life.

Reaching the school, he suddenly realised something.

If he'd dropped his file in the school fields, it'd be thoroughly soaked by now.

Which meant that he would still be in deep shit even after finding the file.

If he could even find it.

Well, he couldn't. After combing through the area, he came to a conclusion that maybe Mochida had torn it up or burnt it or something of the sort, which _sucked_. Wanting to give up, he walked into the school building, getting shelter from the persistent rain…

"HEY, YOU!"

_Mochida-sempai again? _He jumped and turned, instinctively squeezing his eyes shut and shielding himself with his hands as he heard the sound of a swing of an arm. "I-I didn't do anything! Spare me!" He squeaked.

Only then did he realize that those words or the punch hadn't been directed to him. Feeling that there was nobody in front of him at all, he lowered his arms and opened his eyes. The sounds had come from just around the corner. Quietly, he took a peek and gasped at what was taking place just a meter away.

Oh, was he glad they hadn't heard him.

Just round the bend, a kid with red hair had his back against the wall, cornered by two seniors: Mochida and a member of the Kendo club. Blood dripped from his nose and he held a hand over his blackened right eye as he stammered, "I-I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? _Sorry, _you say?" Mochida barked, causing the redhead to tremble. "It's not going to fix this shirt! This shirt's new, you know!" He crushed the can he was holding, threw it aside and sneered into his face. "And you had to bump into me while I was _drinking coke_. Now look! It's got this fucking large stain down the front!"

"I-I didn't mean to…at all."

The bully glared dangerously as he raised his arm again. "What did you say, son of a bitch?"

"STOP!" _Oh shit! _Tsuna clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised that he'd just spoken out loud and invited murder. Mochida spun around, eyes narrowed, and the boy with a nosebleed glanced up, shocked.

"Dame-Tsuna, eh? Here to join in the fun?"

"U-Uh…I mean…" the brown-haired teen panicked. "What happened to my file?"

Oh god, what was he blurting out? He slapped himself for asking for even more trouble. The kendo captain took a step forward. "It's in the damn dustbin. What, going to search for it?"

"U-Um-" Tsuna gulped, swiftly grabbed the redhead's wrist and pulled him up. "RUN!" He screamed.

His first ever great act of bravery totally deserved a standing ovation. But, of course, with the audience being an intimidating guy who knew Kendo and his crony, clapping really wasn't a choice.

With that, he made a run for it for the second time that day, this time with another teen trailing behind as Tsuna pulled him away from the aggressors and into the school building, past the staffroom and into an empty classroom. Tsuna let go as the other kid leaned against the wall, catching his breath.

"H-Hey, are you alright?" Tsuna panted, turning to face him.

"I…" He turned slightly pink and looked away. "I'm fine…you're wet…"

"I got caught in the rain…looks like you didn't, though…"

There was silence for a minute.

"Thank you."

_Eh? _Tsuna stared at him. "Y-You don't need to thank me! I didn't do anything!"

"No!" The boy blinked. "You…helped me out back there…"

"Oh." He scratched his head. "It's nothing! I just didn't want you to get bullied too…'cause Mochida-sempai is really, really mean." He looked at his feet awkwardly, playing with a loose thread from his pants.

"You get bullied too?" The other teen's eyes widened, and Tsuna looked back up to see him wiping his bloodied nose on his sleeve and staring at him.

"Well, yeah…look at me! I'm a mess too, aren't I!" Tsuna smiled sheepishly as he pointed at his bruises and his black eye. "I'm like a walking target!"

"If you're a walking target, I'm a billboard that screams "Bully Me"…" The redhead sighed, sitting down and huddling his legs together. "I get bullied everywhere I go."

"Me too! You're not alone!" Tsuna sat down next to him. "It's like this awful…"

"Curse?" His eyes lit up as Tsuna nodded. "I was thinking of that about me too…"

He turned a bit pinker as his lips curved upwards slightly. "I haven't seen you around…in this school…"

The brown-haired student rubbed his neck. "Oh, it's okay…I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi from class 1C. You can call me Tsuna! What about you?"

The other boy stared at him. "That means we're from the same class."

Blink.

_What? _"Oh no, I'm sorry!" Tsuna gasped. "I don't know anyone in the school but the seniors that ambushed me on the first day of school!"

He shook his head. "It's okay. I didn't know you existed until today either…"

Silence filled the air again before he spoke again.

"My name is Kozato…Kozato Enma."

He stretched out his hand slowly, giving him a small, shy smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Tsuna-kun."

Smiling back, Tsuna took his hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too, Enma-kun."

And as he shook his hand, he could almost feel a tingle running through his arm from his left shoulder. It jerked.

So did Enma's right knee, which was covered up by a huge bandage.

But it was nothing.

Right?

"Anyway, Enma-kun…what happened to your eye?"

"…I fell over a snail before bumping into Mochida-sempai today."

"Oh…it's okay, a large tree branch fell on me today."

"…That happened to me last week."

"It sucks, right."

"Tell me about it…"

xxx

"…and he's really unlucky, just like me! Reborn, it's so amazing it's almost unbelievable!" Tsuna flopped back onto his bed as his cousin stared at him in mild amusement.

"He's the first friend I've made since kindergarten…which makes him my second friend." His smile faded away slightly.

"That kid you were talking about when I brought you to see that piano concert last month? The one that worshipped you?"

The brown-haired teen sighed. "Yeah…he didn't worship me! Just, respect me and call me his boss! It's been so long, I can barely remember what he looks like anymore. Wonder how he is…"

_Only that he had silver hair and bright green eyes…_

"Oi, Tsuna."

He sat back up. "What?"

"You lost your homework file, didn't you?"

"E-EH? I-I did not!"

Reborn glared. "So…where is it, then?"

"…At school…in some dustbin."

"Okay. Then go get it."

"NO!"

xxx

_NOOOOOOO. I DON'T WANNA GO BACK TO SCHOOL, _Tsuna mentally screamed.

Yet, he stood outside his house, locked out by his dear cousin.

Remembering how he had gotten there, he made a face.

"_Okay. Then go get it."_

"_NO!"_

"_Yes. It's not raining anymore."_

"_But it's going to be dark out, and-"_

"_Yes."_

"_B-"_

"_YES."_

_And the power of his glare was more than enough to make Tsuna stutter a "Y-Yes…"_

"_Good. Bring Leon with you, though. Today's the fourteenth, right?" _

"_Y-yeah…"_

"_Okay. Good. Make sure Leon's with you. I don't want you dying."_

As he rethought about what his cousin had mentioned about him dying, he turned to the direction of his house indignantly. "I'm not gonna DIE just because I'm alone in the streets in the evening-EEK!" He screamed as he ran away from a barking dog. "LEON! SAVE ME!"

The chameleon crawled from his head to his left shoulder, tail circling the spot where his birthmark was. Silently, it tapped Tsuna's head gently.

"Sorry, Leon. Panic attack."

Leon. A chameleon, and a very smart one, too. Reborn's pet, and Tsuna's buddy. Reborn made him bring Leon around like some protective charm when Tsuna needed to run errands by himself.

It helped, though. Leon's presence was comforting, and he was glad that he had his company.

Suddenly, as he reached a crossroad, he bumped into someone.

Someone holding a bottle of beer with a large dragon tattoo and a large scar down his left cheek.

And wearing a stained shirt.

_Ohh shit. Again._

"What'ja think 'yer doing, eh, idjit?" The guy growled. "Bumpin' inter me like that..._yer wanna die?_"

_HIIIEEE! _"N-Not at all!" He squeaked, backing away. "I didn't mean to! At all! Please spare me!"

"Oh, Boss isn't going to spare you after messing his shirt up like that~" Panicking, he spun around, only to see a woman with long, blue hair and a tattoo down her leg grinning sadistically at him.

"We were just passing this town to get to somewhere else, but nobody just spills stuff onto Boss' shirt and gets away with it!" She narrowed her eyes wickedly.

"Boss' _favorite_ shirt."

"ASSHOLE!" The man with the stubble roared and struck his arm out to punch Tsuna, who screamed.

"Tsuna-kun!" Out of the blue, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him around the corner and across the street, allowing him to escape from the two tattooed people. The woman pouted.

"Boss, are we going after him?"

"Nahh, we're gonna be late, and Kikyou's go'nner get all angry and shit. Don't wanna miss beer hour at the next stop, idjit!"

And they continued walking as the sun set behind them, marking nightfall.

xxx

"W-Wait…"

The brown-haired kid gasped for breath as his savior slowed down and stopped.

Breathing heavily, he let go of Tsuna's hand, turned around and put the filled paper bag he was holding onto the floor.

"T-Tsuna-kun…are you okay?"

It was Enma.

He sort of wanted to hug him in joy, but his head hurt. Slightly.

"Enma-kun!" He breathed. "Thank you for saving me back there, I thought I was gonna die!"

The redhead blushed. "I-I didn't do anything…you don't need to thank me. I was just doing an errand for my sister."

"Of course I have to thank you! Who _were _those guys, anyway?" Tsuna shivered. It was cold.

"Oh…They're Zakuro and Bluebell…they're part of some gang from Kokuyo. It's near Namimori…" He took a deep breath. "That was for saving me from Mochida-sempai today, so…we're even, okay?"

"O-Okay…" Glad to be alive, he smiled at Enma, who timidly played with the bottom of his shirt. "Thanks, Enma-kun…"

His vision was blurring. Steadying himself, he felt his forehead.

Crap. It was hot.

"Tsuna-kun?"

He felt feverish. His head hurt more than before.

"I-I'm alright…"

Stumbling on his own feet, he winced, clutching his left shoulder. It hurt.

And then he realised.

Leon wasn't with him.

"Hey…Tsuna-kun, are you okay?"

He felt his body temperature peak.

"I…"

Another sharp pain from his shoulder, and he gasped.

_Was this happening because Leon wasn't around?_

"Tsuna-kun!"

Giving in to the pain, he slipped into unconsciousness.

_Crap._

_

* * *

_

And...that was the first chapter! How was it? Anyway yeah, as you can see, everyone's related to each other differently! Hope you're not confused, 'cause this is the first of many long chapters to come!

Man, I'm nervous after writing this! I've actually planned out how I want the story to go, and I hope it works out!

So...please review! I'm not going to make it compulsory or anything, but I'd really love it if you reviewed and shared your honest feedback! I take everything into consideration!

Will update by the 25th^^ Pinky swear! If I don't make the deadline I'll pick out a username and that lucky person can request any type of oneshot fic, okay:)


	2. For reasons unexplained

Made it! Here's the second chapter, thanks all for showing support^^ Namely to those who read, subscribed, faved and reviewed:) Itsuko chan, Akiko Ushi-chan and Lady Airashii Mentsu 67, thanks for reviewing! As for the matter of relationships, we'll find out as the story progresses, eh? Sorry I can't make a wall, but you know that you guys are very awesome okay:D

love you all, and therefore, I will make the next chapter a longer one! Depends on how many reviews I get^^

* * *

_chapter two:_

_For reasons unexplained (we explain them now)._

_Ugh…_

His fingertips tingled and he curled his fingers slightly, making contact with a soft material.

_A…bed?_

Tsuna couldn't think straight; his head hurt, he felt feverish and he couldn't bring himself to lift his eyelids. His left shoulder ached, too.

As he slowly regained consciousness, voices grew clearer.

"…He'll be fine." _Reborn? _He stirred, realizing that he recognized this voice.

"Are you sure? His fever's still pretty high." A female spoke this time, someone he didn't know.

"I'm sure. He went through this quite a lot when he was a kid."

"Oh." He heard the rustling of papers. "Enma, too."

"...Is that so..."

Silence filled the room.

"Tsuna. Are you awake?"

"Mmmn…" He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head, wincing as he felt a sharp pain originate from his shoulder. "R-Reborn...is that you?" He whispered to make sure.

As his vision came into focus, he noticed he was on a bed, in a room he didn't recognize. His cousin sat next to him, and a dark-haired female he didn't know sat a little further away from him, hands around a stack of paperwork she was arranging neatly in a pile on the table. She looked up and glanced at Tsuna.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks..." Recalling what had happened prior to this, he turned back to Reborn. "Leon-"

"He's with me." He stated simply, pointing at his head, where the green chameleon had settled down on.

"Oh..." Sitting up, he put an arm to his shoulder. It felt very sore, and he still felt feverish.

"Where's Enma-kun? Where are we?"

"You're in our house." The female spoke suddenly, startling him when her head swiftly turned towards his direction. "Or, more of, we're in Enma's room."

Tsuna stared at her blankly as she swept her black hair into a ponytail and cleared her throat. "I'm Adelheid, Enma's older sister. It's nice to meet you, Tsuna."

"S-Same here...Adelheid-san..." The brown-haired teen gulped as her head turned back to the papers she held. He silently took in his surroundings, realising that Enma wasn't there...

"Where's-"

Reborn interrupted. "Enma's taking a shower." Sighing, he let Leon crawl down onto his arm and extended it towards Tsuna. "What did I tell you about being by Leon's side at all times?"

"I-I'm sorry! I was running away from some gangsters and before I knew it, he wasn't with me anymore-ouch!" He turned to look at his aching spot, only to see the mark on his shoulder sear...purple. "O-Oh god."

His eyes darted away as he quickly patted his sleeve back down and breathed, "R-Reborn…what was _that_?"

"The mark's searing, right?" His cousin's swift reply stunned him for a moment, and Adelheid averted her eyes, narrowing her brows as she scribbled something down on a piece of paper. Tsuna nodded slowly, pale in the face as he whispered back.

"Y-Yeah…oh _GOD_, Reborn, there's something wrong with me, right? Please, tell me the truth now-"

"Wait." The strict-looking female spoke sharply, glancing up at the silenced teen on the bed, and then Reborn, who said nothing. "Wait until Enma gets back."

And, right on cue, the door creaked open, revealing a certain redhead.

Brown orbs met red ones and the boy at the door rushed towards the bed. "Tsuna-kun…are you okay?"

"U-Uh…I guess I'm okay now…" _Not really._

"Oh…you gave me a scare back there..." He put a hand to Tsuna's forehead. "Looks like you're better now."

"..Thanks, Enma-kun." Still (very much) freaked out, he shivered, arms hugging his legs. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble!"

"I-It's okay-"

"Enma."

The redhead spun around to face his sister, startled. "Adelheid?"

"Show them your right knee."

He paled at her abrupt request. "What? No, I can't-"

"It's alright." She took a second look at their houseguests. "They can be trusted."

Enma glanced warily at his newfound friend, who stared back in confusion. "I can't let them see it…"

"Roll up your pant leg now."

Reluctantly, he lifted his pant leg and rolled it up to above his knee, whispering, "T-This is…"

And Tsuna gasped, eyes widened.

For on his knee, where the bandage had been that afternoon, was a mark almost exactly the same as his.

"O-Oh my _god_."

Reborn smiled grimly. "I see what you mean, Adelheid."

Now red in the face, Enma sat down next to Tsuna, quickly pulling his pant leg over the mark he bore on his knee with trembling fingers. "Now what!"

His sister shook her head. "Nothing." Turning back to the older male, she spoke, "I'm glad we got to meet, Reborn."

"Same here."

_What? WHAT? _The brown-haired teen stared from his cousin to his new friend to his new friend's sister in total shock, trying to prevent his mouth from hanging open. "Enma-kun! Is that mark real?"

"Y-Yes…" The redhead cuddled his knees to his chest, now blushing deeply. "It's so ugly…"

"Wait! Please!" He tapped Enma's knee and rolled his sleeve back up, showing his mark. "It's the same as mine!"

Now it was Enma's turn to go into shock. Somewhat.

He stared at the spiral-shaped mark and ran his now violently trembling fingers through his messy mop of red hair, echoing, "_N-No way._"

"Oh, yes way." Reborn spoke, causing the two to tear their eyes away from the tiny scene that had unfolded before their very eyes. "You two seem to have something in common."

"Precisely." Adelheid nodded and ruffled her brother's hair. "I'm assuming that neither of you - no, you-" She pointed at Tsuna, who quivered. "-know about that mark you have, right?"

"N-No...Isn't it just a weird-shaped birthmark?" He wrung his fingers, glancing at Enma nervously. Obviously his friend hadn't a clue either; his expression was blank, mouthing words as he mustered up the courage to talk back.

"Yeah…you always told me it was a weird birthmark that nobody wanted to see; that's why I've been covering it up!"

The female stood up, revealing her tall stature and…amazing assets. She folded her arms. "That's not a birthmark. I'm sure you've known all this while."

_WHAAT. Then what the hell is it? _The brown-haired teen made eye contact with the boy sitting next to him on the bed, who stared back in utter confusion.

So this was new to the both of them.

Well, of _course _he had known that it wasn't ordinary, because it was _spiral-shaped _and _freaking purple, _for goodness' sake_. FREAKING DARK PURPLE._

But…to know that someone bore the same weird mark as he did was sorta creepy. Stuttering, Tsuna rolled his sleeve back down and raised his trembling hand. "Uhh…Adelheid-san, is this-" He pointed at his shoulder. "Something bad?"

She kept silent, musing, as Reborn scoffed. "Dame-Tsuna, you're clueless, aren't you?"

"…So am I…" The brunette turned in slight surprise as the redhead spoke timidly. "P-Please, Reborn-san…sis…tell us."

The black-haired female sighed, crossing her arms. "Listen, the two of you. That mark isn't a good thing. Neither is it life-endangering. We think."

She took a breath and turned to face the older male standing beside the bed. "Spill it."

He smirked.

"First of all, that's a curse mark."

Silence.

And then all hell broke loose.

"WHAT?" Tsuna jumped up in shock, only to feel a sharp pain in his left shoulder, causing him to sit back down. "NO FREAKING WAY! OMIGOD REBORN! DON'T MAKE JOKES LIKE THAT; PLEASE-"

"It isn't a joke." Adelheid glanced at him firmly, shutting him up. "It's a cursed mark that causes the person that bears it to have bad luck." And, to emphasize her point, she repeated her words.

"Very. Bad. Luck."

He held his head and spluttered. "What? Such things EXIST? Are you sure-"

A swift movement of the hand, and a gun was flipped into Reborn's fingers, ready to aim. "It's the truth. It explains your unbelievably bad luck. Believe it."

He wrung his hands as he held back a scream while eyeing the dangerous weapon, undecided on whether to believe his cousin or not. "B-But…"

Turning to Enma, he saw his friend gaping at the two older figures, mouth slightly ajar.

His expression told him that the redhead couldn't bring himself to believe it either.

"…H-How do you know all this…" The shy teen mumbled as he shifted closer to Tsuna, the only one in the same boat as he was.

"Oh, we know all these." The formidable-looking female sat down again. "I am part of a committee that specializes in tracing curses and finding cures for them. That is Shimon's purpose, no?" She turned to Reborn, who nodded. "And while I am part of the Shimon Council, you are?"

"The Vongola family. We specialize in the same area." The Italian male put his gun away slowly. "We had a chat earlier while the two of you weren't around, and we realised that the two of you are lucky."

_What? _"What part of this is _lucky_ in any sense?" Tsuna exclaimed. "We just got told that we have unlucky curse marks from goodness knows _where_ and you say we're LUCKY?" He was cracking, freaking out, because he couldn't help but believe that all that his cousin and Enma's sister had said was ENTIRELY TRUE, simply because it made sense.

"That's because the curse can be broken; but only in pairs."

"Wha-" He was cut off by Enma, who gave his arm a squeeze. Turning and staring at him, the redhead blushed and spoke. "Are there…any other people with this curse?"

"Yes." She nodded her head. "A pair of lovers in France broke the curse together a year ago, so we know it's possible. There are others with different curses such as the devil's mouth and snakehead, but we won't go into that." Clearing her throat, her lips curved upwards just slightly, indicating slight amusement as she patted her brother's head again.

"It's impossible to break the curse one-handedly, so I didn't tell you anything. I'm sorry, Enma."

"I-It's…okay…"

Reborn turned to his younger cousin. "Well, what she said, and you should know that your father knows about curses too."

His eyes widened. "So he's part of the-"

"Vongola. Yes." He put a hand over Tsuna's forehead as Leon climbed up his shoulder. "It's still pretty hot. I'm bringing you home."

He glanced at Adelheid. "I have some information to share regarding this matter. Meet up tomorrow, our house."

"I have things to share as well. Take care." The female opened the door, grabbing the house keys.

Tsuna lingered by Enma's side, opening and shutting his mouth uncertainly, not sure whether to say something.

"I…uh…Enma-kun…"

His words were cut off by a hug.

A small, bashful hug, but nevertheless a comforting one.

"Let's be friends." The redhead whispered into the other's ear, causing his cheeks to turn faintly pink as his warm breath made his earlobe tingle slightly. "This situation is insane, but we have to believe them…" He pulled away and smiled shyly.

"I trust you, Tsuna-kun."

The brunette smiled back as he left the room and followed his cousin out of the house.

"I trust you too, Enma-kun."

xxx

Tsuna clung to his cousin's side, Leon on his left shoulder, as he warily glanced at the dark streets of Namimori. The light from a lamp post flickered, and he shuddered. His guardian spoke.

"Tsuna."

He glanced up. "Yes?"

"All we've said is the truth. Can you take everything in and try to understand it?"

The brown-haired teen shivered. "I understand…but I guess it's the explanation I've always been looking for, so there's no other choice but to accept it, right?"

"Good." The taller male silently took his weapon out. "I'll explain more about the mark, including the reason why you collapsed today."

"Wha-" A stinging sensation surged through him, causing him to stiffen and turn to his cousin, who held his gun to his right arm. His _smoking_ gun.

He had shot.

Tsuna's consciousness began fading for the second time that day as his vision blurred and he fell into Reborn's arms. "What…did you…do…"

"It's just a sedative. You'll wake up tomorrow morning just fine." His cousin replied nonchalantly, lifting him onto his back as he continued walking. Unable to fight back with his subdued senses, his head lolled against Reborn's back and his arms went almost entirely limp on his cousin's shoulders.

Sighing, he gave in to his tiredness and closed his eyes.

Perhaps, tomorrow, he'd find out more.

* * *

And...that was the second chapter. Sorry that it's shorter than the previous one, 'cos this one was for the explanations! Well, half of it, at least. Don't mind if they become a bit OOC; I want to tweak their characters a teeny little bit here and there so that it flows better:)

Also, since I met the deadline this time, I don't owe anything! Ha! Yup so I'm setting myself the next deadline for chapter three, which will be the 5th of September! Rest assured I won't post substandard stuff:)

If you want to keep on reading this story, please fuel it with happiness and love by REVIEWING! Also, if you want to keep on reading it, remember to add to STORY ALERT:) And when you do add it to anything, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS KAY! They are really much appreciated:D


	3. Let it roll

Hey guys:) I'm back a bit early! Tomorrow I have a small math test so wish me luck^^

Anyway, a BIG thank you to all those who read, subscribed and faved:D Thank you **doremishine itsuko, ****18SkyLark18, ****Apple of Doom****,**** Akiko Ushi-Chan**and**Crimson Cupcake** for being awesome people and reviewing! I really appreciated all your comments:)

So please, do go on and read! Remember that I don't own any characters!

* * *

Chapter three:

Let it roll

Tsuna awoke rather abruptly the next morning, only to find himself suffering from a pounding headache. Groaning, he pushed himself upright and tried to recall what had happened to him yesterday.

Oh, right. He'd been informed that he and Enma had cursed marks that gave them bad luck.

He lifted his left sleeve cautiously, peering at his shoulder. The mark was still there, but its purple hue had died down, and it was almost black. Sighing, he flopped back onto his mattress, feeling his forehead. It wasn't as hot as it was yesterday. In fact, even his shoulder had stopped hurting.

His head hurt like hell though.

He glanced at his bedside digital clock. It was barely seven-thirty in the morning. Perhaps he'd just turn over and pull the covers back on, and go back to sleep for a while more-

Suddenly, the doorknob turned, and his cousin entered the room.

"Ciaossu." He nodded at Tsuna, who nodded back rather uncertainly.

"G-Good morning, Reborn…"

The older male sat down on Tsuna's chair. "If you're wondering why your head hurts so much, it's part of the after effects of the sedation bullet I used on you yesterday."

He stared. "Reborn, stop reading my mind."

Smirking, he crossed his right leg over his left and brought out a black file containing some documents, placing it on the table. "What makes you think I can?"

Tsuna lay down again, the back of his right hand over his forehead. "Well, I feel awful, thank you very much."

Nothing much was said for the next few minutes as Reborn opened the file and sorted the papers while Tsuna thought about what he wanted to say.

"…Uhh, Reborn? I-"

"Adelheid and Enma will come over in about two hours' time to discuss matters." A click of the pen, and the Italian scribbled something down on a blank sheet of paper. The brown-haired male kept his mouth shut and nodded.

Looking up, Reborn pointed towards the edge of the table. "Oh, and I got back your homework file after finding that bully you were talking about."

His heart warmed slightly, relieved at the fact that his homework file was intact due to it having been saved by his cousin. "Thanks, Reborn."

He smiled ever so slightly. "No problem. Mochida's a pushover, you know."

…_Right._

"Oh yeah!" Tsuna jolted back up, wincing as he felt his head lurch a little. "You were supposed to tell me about yesterday, and why I…uh…"

"Fell ill and fainted?" He shook his head. "That's the _sfortunato_ curse for you. It works up and makes you vulnerable when the sun sets every particular day of the month." He folded his arms, ignoring his younger cousin's incredulous stare. "For you, it's the fourteenth, because the curse follows your bithdate, which falls on a fourteenth."

"I'm sorry…_sfortunato_? Is that-"

"It's Italian for unlucky, dame-cousin." He held back a laugh. "It's been happening; it's just that you probably haven't noticed. Luckily, the effects can be subdued by any form of a strong lucky charm, which, in this case-" He allowed the chameleon to climb onto his palm. "-is none other than Leon. Got it?"

"Y-Yeah…" He reached out and stroked Leon affectionately, suddenly extremely glad of his comforting presence as an amazing good luck charm.

"Go to sleep. She told me that they would visit later in the morning." Reborn shot him a glance, and he smiled sheepishly, pulling his covers back over his head.

"Oh yeah….Reborn?" His muffled voice could be heard from under the covers.

"…What."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Simple. Adelheid has the contacts of all of Namimori residents', just like me."

Pause.

"No; actually, I used a microchip implanted in your brain to track you down."

"…Wait, WHAT?"

"Dame-Tsuna, I was _joking_."

Under the sheets, he curled up into a ball.

"I don't care; she and you scare me."

xxx

xxx

xxx

"So."

The intimidating female emptied the contents of her pocket, revealing a leather-bound notebook and a crimson red pen. Tsuna shifted slightly closer to Enma, who in turn clung loosely to his arm.

She looked up after flipping to her desired page.

"This is what my unit has been researching on: the _sfortunato_ curse, which the two of you have_._" Pointing at the page, she glanced at Reborn. "I will begin first, if that's alright with you."

"Please go ahead."

She smiled grimly and pointed to herself. "Firstly, allow me to introduce myself properly, Sawada Tsunayoshi. My name is Suzuki Adelheid. I am Enma's older sister. If you are wondering why we have different surnames, it's because we have different fathers."

Enma avoided her gaze.

"Either way, we live together now, just the two of us. But that isn't important." She slammed her pocketbook onto the table. "Now, tell me what you think should be done to break the curse."

"Uhh…" Tsuna scratched his head rather sheepishly. "Lucky charms?"

"Correct." She ran her finger down a page in her book. "In fact, you need two. Why?"

"…Because…there are two of us…" The redhead mumbled.

"Once again, correct. There has been proof that there is always a need for good luck charms to come in pairs so as to further ward off bad luck, which subsequently explains why this curse needs to be broken in pairs."

She cleared her throat. "In fact, after quite some time, we, the Shimon council, have created a basic list of items the two of you are needed to obtain." She handed the notebook over to her little half-brother, who took it and shared it with Tsuna.

The list read:

_To break the sfortunato curse (four times broken):_

_The ritual must be performed in pairs. Has a higher chance of succeeding if both are virgins._

Tsuna stared at that last part. Okay; so the Shimon council was very specific. That was good.

_The pair must obtain items from friends that do not share blood relations with the cursed or each other. Items that need to be obtained:_

_Comb_

_Knife_

_Pen_

_Glove_

_Lucky Charm (Red)_

_Lucky Charm (Blue)_

_2 Pairs of chopsticks_

_Necklace_

_Ring_

_Alarm Clock_

_3. The pair must trace their curse mark with his own blood, followed by blueberry jam._

(shiver.)

…

Enma looked up. "The list ends here."

Adelheid nodded curtly. "We are not machines that produce research just like that. That isn't all that you need to do, but for now, it's best if you began collecting."

"Collecting…" Tsuna read harder. "Enma-kun, uhh…how many friends do you have?"

"..Two, including you…" The redhead turned pink. "But Shitoppi-chan migrated to America, so that leaves you, Tsuna-kun."

"Shitoppi-chan?" He raised an eyebrow.

"She's half-American…her name's Shitt P. but she only responds to Shitoppi-chan, see…"

And he lapsed into silence while Tsuna counted _his_ friends.

Enma…his kindergarten friend…wow, that made two people.

His social circle sure was big.

Looking at the duo's faces, Reborn sighed, knowing what they were thinking. "Once again, you can blame it on the curse. Before we wrap up this _lovely _sharing session, I have more," He stepped up, slamming his file on the table, "to share."

The tall female glared at him. "Are you implying that Vongola knows more that Shimon?"

He contemplated her words carefully. "Of course not. Our two organizations most certainly share the same goal, and all I am doing is helping us both. And them." He turned towards the two younger boys. "Now, we found another pair of cursed individuals who broke the curse, and she found out a bit more. Go on, get a pen."

And he smirked while watching his cousin scramble to the side and grab his pencil case, almost toppling over in the process.

"Y-Yes, Reborn?" Fishing out a pen, he looked expectantly at his cousin.

"The Italian duo we know of say that they used the same items, but the third condition was slightly different. They had to smear green paint first, let it dry, and then use their blood. Another American pair had to fly to Thailand to perform the ritual, because it wouldn't work anywhere else."

Tsuna gasped. "Blood? Specific conditions? Does that mean we have to try all sorts of combinations till we get it correct?"

"No." The taller male answered sharply. "We didn't start researching these curses for nothing. Don't cut your fingers and shed blood for nothing. Still…" He frowned. "We don't have many case studies. For now, just do what you can."

Adelheid nodded in agreement. "But mind you, the couple from France took years to figure it out."

"…Then, how did they eventually break it?"

Her lips curved upwards slightly. "Why, trial and error."

The brown-haired teen cringed.

Life still sucked.

xxx

xxx

xxx

The adults had decided to leave and continue with whatever they did; leaving Tsuna and Enma in the house under the instructions of "don't leave the house till we get back" and "think about the list".

Tsuna turned to Enma.

Enma turned to Tsuna.

And they sighed collectively.

The two of them sat on Tsuna's bed, one holding the list.

"This is bad!" The more panicky of the two suddenly grabbed his head. "Enma-kun, this is so, so bad! What are we going to do?"

The other, seemingly calmer teen sighed. "I don't know, Tsuna-kun…I can't even step into class without being beaten up; I can't make friends…"

"Me neither…" He slumped against the wall. "At least we don't have a time limit or something, right?"

"…Yeah…hey, was that you doorbell?"

"It was?" He jumped up and stared out of the window as the doorbell rang again and again.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm…" He rushed downstairs, only to open the door to a little kid.

Causing him to facepalm. "Oh god, not again."

"Do YOU have any candy for me?" The kid in the cow suit asked.

_Lambo. The kid in the cow-suit. Good kid? Not really. Annoying. Well, yes._

Tsuna shook his head. "No, I don't…and let me say that for tomorrow, too."

"Lambo wants candy!" The boy seemed on the brim of tears. "Give Lambo candy! NOW!"

He sighed, this time bending down to pat his head gently. "I'm sorry, but I really don't have any candy. Why not go…uh…next door?"

To which the kid sniffled, lit up and exclaimed, "Okay! Bye, Dame-Tsuna!"

_Not you too…_He waved at the little kid, who had started ringing his neighbor's doorbell like a mad salesman.

Enma descended the stairs hesitantly. "Who was that?"

Tsuna laughed. "Oh, it's just a kid down the block. He goes on a sweet collection every weekend…"

And that was when they heard a yell from next door. "I don't wanna give you candy, kid! Get lost!"

"Gotta…stay…calm…"

The brown-haired teen's eyes widened. After two months of dealing with the kid, he knew that was a bad sign.

"Shoot…Enma-kun!"

He closed the door, pushing Enma as far away from next door as possible.

"Tsuna-kun, what-"

The question was cut short by a BOOM, a scream and smoke from his neighbor's doorstep. Enma stared.

"What-"

Tsuna sighed. "He throws grenades when he gets angry."

_Lambo. Destructive? Definitely._

Enma chuckled softly. "You have interesting neighbors, Tsuna-kun."

"O-Oh…I guess so." He sat down on the sofa. "Um, Enma-kun?"

"…Yes?"

"Maybe we should walk to school together on Monday."

"…And maybe they won't want to bully us?" His crimson eyes widened for a moment. "Okay, not that…"

"Well, at least we're together, right?" Tsuna smiled.

"…Promise me."

He blinked. "…Promise you that?"

Enma looked away timidly. "Promise me you won't back out or something like that."

He stared at his friend, who was slowly developing a pink blush, and sighed.

"I promise, okay?"

xxx

xxx

xxx

_Monday morning._

Tsuna stood nervously at the cross-junction. The sun was rising fast, and if they didn't make it to school in half an hour they would be late.

Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure running towards him. He gasped.

"Enma-kun! Watch out for the-"

Tsuna winced as his friend slipped and fell.

"-puddle…"

And he ran over to help him up.

Twenty minutes later, the two had reached the school gate, Enma with a new bandage on the spot he had hit when slipping.

"…You ready?"

The redhead nodded silently.

"Okay. I see third years at that corner. We run that way, avoid Mochida-sempai there, and-"

"Hide behind that pillar before sneaking into the block." Enma finished his sentence for him. "Let's go."

"You sure? I'm kinda nervous-"

"Yes."

"Right…3…2…1…"

And for the first time ever, they avoided being pummeled by bullies before school hours.

Being beaten up _during _school hours, on the other hand, was a different matter altogether…

* * *

And we end right here! That was chapter three for you:) Tell me what you think! By the way, _sfortunato_ is supposed to be "luckless" in Italian. If it's wrong, blame google translate for me.

Next chapter will be the fourth! Guess who's going to make an appearance in chapter 4!

Also, if you're interested, you can tell me how you want Tsuna and Enma's relationship to be like by the end of this whole fic!

Keep the flame alive:) See you guys, and I'll update as soon as I can, okay^^


	4. Of a sprain and a jock

Hey guys; I'm back with the fourth chapter! A big THANK YOU to **Apple of Doom**, **sakuramiyuki0**, **18skylark18**, **doremishine itsuko**, **Crimson Cupcake** and **Akiko Ushi-chan** for reviewing! Really, I was super happy:) And THANK YOU TOO to those who faved or subscribed! Hope that you guys can leave a message after reading my story^^

Here goes!

chapter 4: Monday blues

* * *

He took a deep breath.

Right in front of him stood the sliding door that was the classroom entrance.

"...Okay. We're not going to get bashed up just by going to class, right?"

"No, Tsuna-kun...I don't think so. Open it."

Quietly, the brown-haired teen slipped his fingers into the handle and pulled, sliding the door open.

His friend shifted behind him as it swung slowly to the side, revealing their class, and they sighed in relief. _So far so good-_

"Hey, look! It's Dame-Tsuna again!"

_Oh no. _Swiftly, he pulled his equally stricken friend into the class and shut the door, running to his seat and dumping his bag on his desk.

That was when he realised he hadn't a chair.

Looking out of the window, he sighed. There it was; trashed, near the field.

He turned to Enma, who in turn reached out for a spare chair. However, his hand was slapped away by a girl clad in a short school shirt and an untucked blouse.

"Back off the chair, bitch!"

_Gyaru!_ Tsuna gulped and tugged at his friend's sleeve warningly. Enma took a step backwards, almost tumbling into him. The girl sneered, fake tan, dyed dirty-blonde hair and thick eyeshadow staring them in the face.

_The girls that call themselves the Gyaru gang. Dyed hair, fake lashes, thick layers of makeup and a hell of an attitude: for some odd reason, they haven't been kicked out of school yet._

"Go find your own chair, losers. This one's for my bag!" She snarled, grabbing the chair and dumping her neon pink duffel bag on it. "Besides, this seat's also reserved for the person I'm going to eat lunch with! It won't be dirtied by the likes of you!"

Smiling smugly, she carried the chair back to her seat mouthing _'weaklings'_ back to the two, leaving them slightly stunned.

Enma turned back to Tsuna. "Was that…one of the Gyaru girls?" He whispered.

"Yeah…" The brunette turned to see that she wasn't in close proximity before whispering back. "She was so scary! I mean, I need a chair more than her bag, okay?"

"I know…there's another spare chair at the back of the class though." The redhead pointed at it hesitantly. "I don't think they'll attack us for taking that."

Tsuna smiled slightly. Silently, he took the chair and sat down on it, relieved that nobody but he and Enma had noticed. "Enma-kun, where do you sit?"

"Umm…" Enma pointed at the window seat next to Tsuna's. "Actually, I sit there."

He stared. "That's next to me! Why didn't we notice each other?"

The redhead rubbed the plaster on his nose shyly. "Maybe because…last week…was an awful bashing week, right…"

He laughed softly, glad that everyone else in class was ignoring them for the time being. "Yeah, true…"

His voice was drowned out by a chorus of squeals. Rather surprised, he and Enma turned around, just to see the group of Gyarus crowding around the tall, smiling guy that had just entered the classroom declaring a good morning to the class.

_Yamamoto Takeshi. Same age, same class. Baseball ace. Is popular with girls…and boys. Sorta._

"Good morning, Yamamoto-kun!" The girl who had yelled at them just minutes ago had totally changed her attitude. She was practically sparkling as she squealed and made way for him to get to his seat. "Yamamoto-kun! I hope you can eat lunch with me today! I reserved a seat just for you!"

_Oh, so THAT'S what that chair was for…_ Tsuna sighed to himself as he and Enma shared a look. The tall guy seated himself next to Tsuna's desk, smiling brightly at the girls who had followed him to his seat.

"Haha, I'm honored, Ami!" He addressed her politely. "But I'm not sure whether I can eat lunch with you; I want to test out my new baseball bat during lunch period." He gestured towards his bag before shrugging apologetically. "I'm sorry."

The girl seemed disheartened, but she smiled and nodded anyway, happy that she had been able to talk to her idol.

"He's very popular."

Enma stated the obvious.

The other nodded, sighing as he heard the bell ring, signaling the start of class. Glancing at their timetable, both of them grimaced.

"It's history first block, so sensei should be-"

"VOOOOIIIIII! GET THE HELL INTO YOUR SEATS!"

Tsuna squeaked, jumped and spun around, falling out of his chair as Enma dropped the timetable in fright. A man with long, silver hair holding a stack of papers and a marker in his hands suddenly stormed into class, leading heads to turn and people to scurry back to their seats. He dumped the papers onto the teacher's desk and glared at the class, who seemed to shrink back in fear due to his overwhelming murderous aura.

All but one.

Said baseballer raised his hand, causing the others to gasp and fear for his life.

"Uhh…where's our sensei?"

The man at the front of the class glowered at him. "Asshole; don't interrupt me! He transferred to another school, so I'M YOUR DAMN HISTORY TEACHER NOW, ALRIGHT?"

Still oblivious to the danger in front of him, the baseballer grinned. "So how do we address you?"

He gritted his teeth in frustration and grabbed his marker, writing every syllable he spoke. "My. Fucking. Name. Is. SUPERBI. SQUALO. That. Is. Squalo. For. You." Tossing the marker back onto the desk, he folded his arms. "Now, class, remember my name or die. GOOD MORNING!"

As the class stuttered through a greeting, someone caught his attention.

"OI! You there, kid on the floor! Scrawny kid! Get up and sit on your seat!"

Tsuna blushed furiously as he realized it was him the teacher was pin-pointing. "S-Sorry, Squalo-sensei!" He clambered back to his seat and buried his head into his arms for fear of further embarrassment.

Shaking his head, the teacher turned back to the board and picked his marker back up again.

"Take out your goddamn notebooks and start taking notes!"

xxx27272727xxx

Lessons hadn't been as bad as expected.

Sure, Squalo-sensei swore in almost every sentence and had violent tendencies, but that was okay.

He'd dropped his pencil case in the corridor and had to spend ten minutes finding his eraser, but at least nobody else but Enma had been around.

But now, it was lunch break, and Enma had been called to see a teacher.

And Tsuna was alone.

_Sigh._

He had a sprained ankle, simply because he had tripped on the stairs.

It hurt. He winced.

Accidentally, he pressed some of his weight on the weak spot, and he trembled, grip on the stair handrail tightening as he almost fell backwards. Heaving a sigh of relief, he limped up another step.

Only to spot someone else walking down the stairs towards him.

Someone holding a baseball bat and donning a baseball cap. Seeing Tsuna, he walked up to him and frowned.

"Hey, what happened to you?"

His eyes widened as he saw the jock approaching. "Hiiieeee! Don't hurt me, please! I didn't do anything this time!" He raised his hand up instinctively, shielding himself from a blow that never came. Instead, he heard a soft chuckle.

"Of course I won't hurt you! Besides, you seem hurt already." Smiling, the tall teen moved closer to Tsuna, who lowered his hands hesitantly, and almost squeaked when the baseballer squatted down to examine his ankle. "You know, it looks pretty bad. I'll bring you to the infirmary if you want."

Tsuna stared at him. This was too good to be true. A popular guy was being nice to him for the first time ever.

"Umm...you're Yamamoto Takeshi, right?" He asked timidly. The teen grinned.

"Yup! Call me Yamamoto. And...you're Dame-Tsuna, right? I hear everyone call you that!"

"Uhh...yeah, sure, call me Tsuna..." The brunette sighed. _Glad I'm known to the school as a loser._

"Great!" He laughed. "Okay, Tsuna! There's still a while before lunch break ends, so I'll bring you to get your ankle bandaged, alright?"

"I-It's oka-" His grip on the stair railing loosened and he was caught by the taller student, who smiled and put Tsuna's arm over his shoulder, supporting him up the stairs. "A-Ah! Thank you! I'm sorry to bother you with this!"

He chuckled again. "No problem! It's not a bother at all, I mean, what am I supposed to do? Leave you there?"

"Well, actually…" The brown-haired teen trailed off as he recounted all the times he had been bullied and left to scramble away. He'd never been helped like this – especially not by a jock. Namely, the most popular guy in class.

So he was wrong about Yamamoto Takeshi…

The door to the infirmary opened, revealing a stern-looking blue-haired female standing in front of them and a blond male checking a cabinet. The woman folded her arms.

"And what is this?"

The baseballer grinned sheepishly. "Hi, Lal-sensei. Colonnello-sensei."

_Lal Mirch and Colonnello. Military combat experts and professional first-aiders. They work in the infirmary on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays._

"Yamamoto Takeshi. If I remember correctly, you came here last Friday with an injured dog?"

"Haha…well, yes!" He scratched the back of his head.

Nodding slightly, she turned to the shorter student. "...And you are Sawada Tsunayoshi. Weren't you here just last Tuesday?"

Tsuna gulped. "Y-Yes…"

"Tsuna here sprained his ankle!" Yamamoto pointed to the smaller teen he was supporting, still beaming.

She sighed. "Alright. Come in." Stepping aside, she led the two to a bed and forced the injured student onto it, causing him to yelp.

She examined his sprain."Don't you start crying from something this minor. Now sit still." Turning her head, she made eye contact with the boy, causing him to shut his mouth and turn to Yamamoto, who simply grinned. Taking a roll of bandage, she turned to her counterpart at the shelves.

"We have a sprained ankle here; don't take your time!"

The male turned around, grinning. "Alright, alright, don't need to rush! It's not life-endangering, right, kora?"

"Just shut up and get the ointment, Colonnello!" She shot him a glare, hands itching to grab the nearest sharp object and throw it at him.

He sighed. "Uptight as always, Lal. Relax a bit, kora!" Standing up, he walked over, bending down to pass a small bottle of pink ointment to her. Smiling at the two boys, he straightened up. "She's always like that; don't mind her, kora!"

And with that, he cheekily ruffled her hair before walking back to the cabinets before a blushing Lal-sensei could turn and slap him.

"C-Colonnello!" She glared at his back, resisting the temptation of throwing the ointment bottle back at him. Instead, she huffed, turned around, and while still pink in the face, opened the bottle and started applying some on Tsuna's ankle with considerable force.

"Ah! Lal-sensei, use less force!"

"Keep quiet! Don't whine!"

Yamamoto stifled a laugh.

xxx00000000xxx

Enma was a little worried.

Okay, he hadn't gotten into any trouble, all the teacher wanted was for him to write more legibly for English work.

But where was Tsuna?

He glanced at the wall clock. There was fifteen minutes left before the start of the next lesson.

Enough time to search for him.

xxx27272727xxx

"So, is your ankle fine now, kora?"

The brown-haired teen felt his ankle gingerly. "It's fine now. Thanks, Lal-sensei. Colonnello-sensei. It feels better; maybe I can walk on it now-ouch!" He rubbed his head in pain as the blue-haired woman hit him with the roll of bandages.

"Don't you go applying pressure on that foot! It's still weak!" She barked. "Be less pathetic and more careful!"

_Spartan..._Tsuna sighed as he attempted to stand. "Alright...thank you very much!"

The baseballer laughed. "Yeah, we gotta get back to class!"

Just then, the door slid open softly with a timid "hello".

Catching a glimpse of red hair, Tsuna knew who it was.

"Enma-kun!"

The redhead nodded, bowing as he entered the room, wary of the senseis' presences. "What happened, Tsuna-kun?"

"Ehh…" He smiled sheepishly. "I sort of slipped and fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle."

"Oh…so you're okay?" Enma shifted towards him, staring at his ankle. Realizing that Yamamoto was just beside them, he glanced at him hesitantly.

"O-Oh...Yamamoto…h-hi…"

The taller student laughed.

"Man, I'm not scary! You guys have to stop being scared of me!"

Enma shuffled to Tsuna, who mouthed an _it's alright, he's a nice guy_, then turned to Yamamoto.

"Thanks for helping me; it's a first…"

"No problem!" He beamed. "We're friends now, alright?" Turning to Enma, he extended his hand. "You too! You're Enma, right?"

The red-haired teen turned slightly pink as he timidly extended his own hand. "Y-Yes; I'm Enma."

The baseballer shook his hand. "Well, now we're all friends, okay?"

"Hey." Lal-sensei glared at them dangerously. "The bell's going to ring. You noisy kids get back to class."

_But we're not that noisy…_Sighing, the brunette thanked the pair of senseis and was helped out by Enma, followed by a smiling Yamamoto. The female closed the door behind them and immediately turned to the blond, arms folded again.

"_What._ Did you do that for."

Colonnello stared at her innocently. "Did what, kora?"

A vein popped. "Ruffle. My. Hair."

"Oh, that." He chuckled. "Because your reaction is cute!"

"C-COLONNELLO!"

A roll of gauze sailed across the room with incredulous speed, narrowly missing the man.

"N-No wait, I didn't mean that-OUCH, LAL!"

xxx

"No way would I ever want to beat you up! You guys don't deserve to be bullied!"

"Eh?" Tsuna turned towards the baseballer. "Really?"

He grinned. "Of course! Did you think I bully little kids or something?"

_Er, actually, I sorta did…_ Tsuna gave him a small, sheepish smile. "T-Thanks, Yamamoto."

"No problem! If you need help, you can ask me, you know! Although if it has something to do with studies or homework…." He scratched his chin embarrassedly. "Maybe you should ask someone else for that."

Tsuna glanced at him. "R-Really? I guess that's something we have in common..."

Well, Yamamoto _was_ the guy that could effortlessly sleep through classes and joke about it.

"Oh yeah!" The taller student lit up as he turned to Enma. "You're brilliant at history!

"But I'm lousy at math..." The redhead mumbled.

The baseballer grinned. "Well, that makes the three of us!"

"Hey, you three."

_Crap. _The trio spun around and Tsuna gasped, Enma backing away with him.

The figure that stood behind them wore a red and gold armband around one arm and a rather oversized black jacket over his shoulders.

He crossed his arms.

"Herbivores. You're crowding here."

_Hibari Kyoya. Head prefect whose murderous aura is enough to send people running. Hates crowds with a passion._

_In other words, if you see him coming your way, SCATTER._

_Oh no. Crap. _Tsuna frantically turned to Yamamoto, who grinned.

"Hey, Hibari! Three isn't a crowd, you know!"

_Nooo, Yamamoto! Let's go back to class and not argue about crowds!_

The raven-haired prefect's eyes narrowed. "What is your point?"

He laughed. "We're not crowding, just going back to class!"

_Crack._ His patience snapped. A flash of silver, and the prefect held a pair of tonfas.

"I'll bite you to death."

"HIIIEEE!" Tsuna took a step backwards, only to fall over due to his poor balance on one foot. Enma quickly tried to help him up, while the baseballer chuckled nervously. Surprisingly, the tonfa wielder sighed and took a look around the corridor. Keeping his weapons, he glared at them once again.

"If I bite you herbivores to death here, it'll just be disturbing the peace. Hurry back to class." He turned and walked away.

And as he disappeared round the corner, Tsuna let out the breath he had been holding.

Now THAT was a close brush with death.

"O-Okay…" Enma slowly helped Tsuna up. "I think we're going to be late for class…"

Yamamoto checked his watch and laughed. "Actually, we have two minutes to get back to class!"

Tsuna stared.

"What's next block?"

"Uhh…" The baseballer scratched his head, thinking. "Math."

"…EHHH? If it's Math, sensei's going to kill us! W-We need to run-ouch!"

"Tsuna-kun, your ankle…"

xxx00000000xxx

Thankfully, the rest of the day hadn't been that eventful.

_Five minutes to go before the end of the last block._

The redhead turned to look at Tsuna, his seatmate, who looked back. He glanced at the rest of the class, and all faces said it clearly: _Sensei, stop sneezing and coughing into the whiteboard and TAKE SICK LEAVE._

Fortunately, the teacher had given up trying to teach. He sighed, sneezing before sitting down at the teacher's desk.

"Okay class, I might take sick leave tomorrow."

_That's good for you, sensei… _He sighed, staring out of the window. Why did five minutes have to be so slow?

"But!" The teacher raised a finger. "Be nice to the substitute teacher. He's probably going to be in school for a while, because I-" He pointed at himself. "-will be away at an Australian University for a course. Don't miss me."

Clearly, he had failed to realise that missing him was not something they had considered.

The middle-aged man cleared his throat in the silence. "So, he specializes in philosophy, which is the subject I am teaching."

_Of course, sensei…we sort of could tell._

"Anyway!" He sneezed before continuing. "Worry about that on Wednesday; there's no philosophy lesson tomorrow. I have another piece of news for the class regarding a transfer student."

The attention of the class was caught at the mention of 'transfer student'. The teacher beamed at the apparent interest his class showed.

"I don't have his name, but I have his photo."

He fished out a photo from his pocket, and suddenly, heads turned and girls rushed forward. Enma sighed, not interested in the new student.

Until he saw Tsuna gasp and head towards the photo.

_Eh?_ He was sure his friend wouldn't be that interested in a transfer student. Whatever it was, it had to be important. Slowly, he followed Tsuna to where the small crowd of students was.

Trembling slightly, the brunette took a closer look at the photo. Enma tugged at his sleeve questioningly.

"Enma-kun…this person…"

_This person…?_ He stared confusedly at him.

Someone raised a hand and asked, "Is he Japanese?"

"Not entirely. Apparently, he's half Italian." The teacher replied before coughing.

Tsuna's eyes widened. "H-Half..."

_..._

xxx27272727xxx

Tsuna gasped as he saw the photo being taken out of the pocket. Even from the back of the classroom, he could see it.

_No way._

Quickly, he had headed for the teacher's table, ignoring the fawning girls and other curious classmates.

He had to take a good look at the photo.

Slowly, he took everything in, aware of the fact that he was trembling so very slightly.

Half Italian, half Japanese.

There was no mistake about it.

That silver hair, those green eyes, that signature frown…

It had to be him.

"Are you okay?"

He turned, eyes wide. Enma clutched his sleeve with a tint of worry in his eyes.

"I'm fine, Enma-kun…It's just that…"

He smiled to himself.

"I…I think I know that person."

The transfer student…it had to be him, that him he had last seen nine years ago.

His first friend.

* * *

Okay, now you can shoot meT.T I pictured the ending in my head nicely but it epic-failed when I typed it down...

Well, guesses, anyone?

Keep the fire going and review:D Love you guys, will update soon. I need to study for my end of year exams so I probably won't update very much. Then again, the reason why I began writing was because of _last _year's end of year exams...

TO THE EXTREME^^


	5. In with a BANG

Hey guys, we've passed the twenty review mark:D Thanks for the support and everything, I really do appreciate it! Been studying for exams; this chapter came from some epiphany I got while reading through my biology notes. The word count's pretty long for this one, I think!

Anyway, a big** THANK YOU** to **doremishine itsuko**, **Apple of Doom** (Apple D), **Polar Pig**, **Crimson Cupcake**, **18Skylark18**, **rainbow muffinman** and **marsmonkey**, and all those who added this story to their favorites or story alerts! To Apple D darling: read and see for yourself:)

Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer last chapter, so here it is. KHR belongs to Amano Akira-sensei, who...gives me shocks with her plot twists. Awesome plot twists, nevertheless.

So..enjoy chapter 5 guys:)

* * *

Chapter 5: In with a BANG

Monday had passed. It was Tuesday, and things had been alright so far…

Sort of.

Tsuna let out the breath he had been holding in as he swung round the corner and into the school compound, Enma following suit. "G-Good job, Enma-kun." He panted.

"T-Thanks, Tsuna-kun…"

They had been chased by three stray cats all the way to school. Go figure.

The brown-haired teen chuckled nervously. "Well, at least we're not late, because history's first block, and the transfe-OH MY GOD I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT IT."

He turned to his friend, who nodded.

"Um, Tsuna-kun?"

He looked at him curiously. "Yes?"

"…You can let go of my wrist now…"

"Oh!" He hadn't realized that he had been holding it for so long. His cheeks turning the faintest tinge of pink, he let go. "Sorry!"

Enma shook his head and gave him a small smile. "It's okay."

He hadn't minded it.

"Let's not be late for class, or sensei will yell."

xxx

"VOOOOOIIIII! IS EVERYONE HERE?" The teacher walked-no, stormed in, slammed a stack of notes on the teacher's table and glared around. "Very good. Nobody's late-WAKE UP, BRAT!" He pointed his finger accusingly at none other than-

"Huh?" Yamamoto opened his eyes blearily, lifting his head from the table. "Me?"

The sensei rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course not, I was talking to that fucking flowerpot."

The baseballer laughed. "Really?"

Tsuna gulped, and so did the rest of the class. He turned to Enma, who mouthed an _Oh dear._

Squalo twitched as he resisted the urge to throw something at the kid. Instead, he took a deep breath.

"For goodness' sake, GET A DAMN BRAIN."

At that moment, he decided to turn around and facepalm. Yamamoto laughed.

"ALRIGHT, BRATS!" He spun around again. "Today, we have a damn transfer student joining this class."

People began whispering excitedly, and Squalo-sensei stood at the front of the class, twitching again.

"VOOOIII! SHUT UP!"

And the class fell silent under his glare. He sighed.

"… I don't know what else to say, so let's just invite him in."

Enma felt a tug at his arm as the teacher headed towards the door. Turning, it was Tsuna. "Mmm?"

"Enma-kun, I don't think he'll recognize me…"

He glanced at his seatmate. "Why won't he?"

The brunette sighed. "It's been nine years, h-he probably won't remember me…"

_Even if he does, will he want to associate himself with me, the class loser?_

However, all worry was pushed away as the door opened, and the girls at the front squealed.

Tsuna gasped, and Enma stared as he caught the slight scent of gunpowder.

_So this is…_

"Gokudera Hayato." The silver-haired teen at the front of the class ran a hand through his already messy hair and sighed. "I'm not going to give some long introduction about myself, though." He turned to the teacher. "And where the hell do I sit?"

Squalo twitched for the third time that day. _Why _did all his students HAVE to have attitude problems?

"…Go sit next to that brat over there. YEAH YOU, FLOWERPOT." Sensei turned to glare at Yamamoto, who raised his hand gleefully and pointed to the seat to his right. "Very good. Now everyone, take out your damn notes and READ."

Meanwhile, the transfer student, ignoring glances from the class, had walked over to his seat. Slinging his backpack over the chair, he dumped a pile of notes on the table and took a look around the classroom.

"Yo!" Came Yamamoto's usual, cheerful greeting. "Gokudera, right? Nice to meet you!"

He received a fierce glare from the half-Italian. "Whatever." He turned his attention towards the rest of the class. There was nothing interesting about it…just that…

That boy seemed familiar.

That boy beside the grinning idiot sitting next to him. That boy with brown hair and brown eyes…and that familiar aura…

He shook his head irritably, turning away. He'd find out who that kid was later.

As soon as his head turned away, Enma tugged on Tsuna's sleeve gently. "Is that him?" He whispered to him very quietly. His friend nodded.

"I-It sure is…" He sighed, and Enma knew what he was thinking.

_Even if he recognizes me, he won't want to be friends with me anymore, will he?_

The redhead patted his shoulder, mouthing a _you have a plan, don't you?_

Tsuna nodded and mouthed back, _wish me luck_.

Enma turned pink and gave him a thumbs-up before swiftly turning back to his notes before Squalo-sensei could catch him in the act.

He sighed inwardly. _Hope it works, Tsuna-kun._

_Although…wouldn't he have to be kind of thick to not see through it? _He tilted his head, highlighting the next sentence he read, stealing a glance at Tsuna, who was scribbling something on a blank piece of paper.

_If you think it's going to work, then it'll be okay._

Lost in thought, he dropped his highlighter, and almost fell off his chair picking it up.

xxx272727xx

_Alright! _Tsuna bit his lip. If this didn't work, nothing would. Quickly, he took out his notebook, and checking that the teacher wasn't paying attention to him, he began to write.

_Gokudera. _

_I'm an alien._

_I've possessed the kid sitting two seats away from you - yeah, the brown-haired kid. So...if you acknowledge me, please throw this paper plane back with your reply!_

_Sincerely, UMA_

He paused to smile to himself. This was...ridiculous.

Still, worth a try. He hadn't much to lose. Silently, he folded the piece of paper into a plane and gently threw it over. Watching it land on Gokudera's table unharmed, he nodded and turned back to his notes before Squalo-sensei came around to bark at him.

xxx595959xxx

Gokudera swirled his pen around his finger, sighing. It was boring, and he didn't want to read the notes. Turning his head, he observed the classroom for a while. It wasn't entirely silent like their teacher had hoped for; there were people chatting about a variety of things, one of those things being HIM.

Although they spoke in whispers, it was pretty easy to hear them.

"Oh, he's so cool! My heart stopped for a while there!"

"He looked at me just now!"

"Do you think he'll reject an invitation to lunch?"

There were others, too, who spoke of him warily.

"Hey...he smokes..."

"Is that _DYNAMITE_ I see?"

The silver-haired teen snorted to himself. Idiots; if they didn't like smoking and bombs it was their own damn problem_-_

Suddenly, he heard a soft 'swoosh', and a paper plane landed directly in front of him, his name written on a wing. He twitched.

A message for him? On a paper plane? He reached out to crush it and throw it towards the bin behind him, but as he touched the plane, he stopped.

He was bored, anyway. Why not read it before disposing of it? I mean, if it were some shit threat letter he'd have fun burning it and killing the asshole sender later.

Besides, something told him he wouldn't regret reading it. His inner conscience, maybe?

Slowly, he unfolded the paper, and he began reading.

_Gokudera._

He almost gasped aloud as he read the next line, his frown momentarily lost.

_I'm an alien._

Oh, it couldn't be.

Giving a double take, he reread those three words. An alien? Was some asshole trying to screw his mind? Aliens weren't real.

But if he thought that aliens weren't real, he'd be contradicting himself.

He, after all, was a believer in the supernatural, and that included aliens.

Damn.

He tugged at a tuft of his hair, reading the next line.

_I've possessed the kid sitting two seats away from you - yeah, the brown-haired kid._

He lifted his head and glanced at the teen in question. He looked familiar; Gokudera just couldn't figure out when and where he had met him.

Forgetting that.

Brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes, he took a closer look at the kid. He was small-sized with messy, spiky hair, and _was that a PEACE SIGN he was signaling? _Gokudera blinked. He'd seen the boy stick a hand behind his back and demonstrate the peace sign towards him. His eyes widened slightly, and he quickly read the last of the message.

_So...if you acknowledge me, please throw this paper plane back with your reply!_

_Sincerely, UMA_

He stared.

UMA.

Nobody else in the world would use that term but him.

That could only mean one thing.

This alien had done his research.

Wordlessly, the silver-haired teen began scribbling a reply, suppressing the urge to display his excitement. Folding the paper back into a plane, he threw it back to the kid's seat before turning around and pretending like nothing happened.

"Reading your notes?" He turned to see Yamamoto grinning at him. He glared.

"You read your own damn notes, I read mine. Got it?"

xxx272727xxx

Seeing a paper plane land on his desk smoothly, Tsuna heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, nobody had noticed that tiny sigh, and, undisturbed, he unfolded the paper.  
_UMA,_

_I KNEW IT! YOU GUYS ARE REAL!_

_Damn, I need to prepare a gift! An offering!_

_Gokudera._

Reading that, he couldn't stop himself from smiling very slightly.

_Yessss._

After all, Tsuna had been the first to be willing to watch UFOs with his childhood friend. If anything, he would never forget the his obsession with what he called UMAs - Unidentified Mysterious Animals.

He laughed to himself. Ten years ago, they had created this acronym together while observing footprints in the sand that his friend had insisted were too big to be human.

Turning the paper around to its blank, unused side, he began with his reply.

_Good you replied. You don't need to prepare anything, though._

_Say, what was your childhood like? Remember anything from, let's say, kindergarten?_

_UMA_

Taking in another deep breath, he swiftly threw the plane to his right, hoping it would reach his target.

_Go, plane, go!_

xxx595959xxx

The half-Italian almost grabbed the plane as it came, eager for the reply. As he unfolded it and read it, he sighed. His childhood? Kindergarten? Damn, he could barely remember anything.

Still, not wanting to disappoint an alien, he picked up a pen to reply.

_Dear UMA,_

_Only because you're an UMA, I'll try to remember kindergarten. Geez, can't remember much at all; my memory's pretty screwed. I remember my first sighting of an alien before I turned six._

_Oh, and I started playing with dynamite. My ass of a teacher confiscated my FAKE ones. Pfft._

_Gokudera_

Need he say any more? He tossed it over and continued reading the book under his table.

Sensei was still at the teacher's desk, grumbling to himself as he marked scripts viciously with a large, red pen.

xxx272727xxx

Opening up the plane, Tsuna read the reply quickly.

_Oh, dynamite. _He faintly remembered the time his friend had threatened to blow his bullies up for him. Yes, bullies existed in kindergarten, just...smaller-sized and less vicious.

And that first sighting...he had something to say about that.

Somewhat mused, he picked up his pen.

_Gokudera,_

_First sighting? Were you the only one there to see bigfoot?_

_UMA_

He knew he'd get an interesting reply.

xxx595959xxx

As soon as the plane landed, he had unfolded it in a flash As he read, he picked up a pen and was about to compose his reply when he frowned.

How did this UMA know so much, to the extent of knowing that it had been Bigfoot? He hadn't told anyone...or had he?

Damn, the alien was playing tricks with him.

xxx272727xxx

The plane sailed back and Tsuna opened it up, pretending it was part of his notes.

_UMA,_

_How...how the HELL do you know that it was Bigfoot? Okay, maybe it's your crazy alien powers or something, but seriously, don't fucking scare me like that!_

_Anyway, yes, anything more?_

_Gokudera _

He smiled to himself. He had expected this reaction from him: he had specifically mentioned 'bigfoot' on purpose.

"VOOOIII! Stop SMSing under the table; it's fucking obvious!"

Tsuna flinched at his teacher's language. Being cautious so as to not attract Squalo-sensei's attention, he picked his pen back up and removed its cap.

_Gokudera,_

_I'll reveal that to you later. I know a lot about you; can you guess what I am – or, who I am?_

_Tell me about the games you played in kindergarten. Any friends you played with?_

_UMA_

xxx595959xxx

After reading the reply, Gokudera had come to a conclusion.

This UMA was damn weird.

But, well, if he could establish a connection with it, goodness knows how far he might go.

So he picked up his pen and wrote honestly.

_UMA,_

_YOU ARE FUCKING WEIRD. But then again, you ARE an UMA. _

_I…_

He trailed off, hesitating. He'd began playing with dynamite at that age, and…he'd been obsessed with the Mafia.

Which his kindergarten teacher had stressed was a terrible obsession that had to be suppressed. But ignoring that.

Friends…he could barely remember faces, let alone names. Shaking his head, he turned to the supposedly possessed kid.

And his eyes narrowed.

Damn, was that familiar kid from his kindergarten or something like that?

He turned back to the paper.

_People were damn scared of me in kindergarten 'cause I played with dynamite. Che. I can't remember anyone._

_I played some "Mafia" thing. That's where my dynamite came in handy. Heh._

_Gokudera_

xxx272727xxx

Gosh, writing messages had never been this fun.

Tsuna looked up. Squalo-sensei was still at his desk. Good.

_Gokudera, _

_I may seem weird to you now, but it'll be clearer later._

_Mafia? That's interesting. Did you play with others and give them codenames? _

_Oh, if so, what was your codename?_

_UMA_

He laughed to himself as he looked at his replies. It almost seemed as though he was a different person when he was writing messages.

He'd have to stop pretending to be an UMA within two exchanges of replies.

xxx595959xxx

His fingers hovered from his pen as he read the reply.

_UMA,_

_The kiddos I played with? Dude, I told you, I can't remember a fucking thing. All I know was that I was a right-hand man. You know, kid's games._

_Damn, I can't remember my boss._

_But I remember my own codename. I still use it for random crap._

_It's my name in numbers._

_59_

A minute later, the plane flew back with another message.

_59-kun,_

_Codenames are nice. Do you recall a 27?_

_Because, if you do, you'll remember who I am._

_From the person you called the Tenth. _

_(You can decide whether I'm an UMA or not.)_

"Person you called the Tenth…" He muttered to himself, scribbling _27 _and _Tenth _on a separate piece of paper.

Now this was confusing.

_27…27…27…Nina…Tsuna…TSUNA? _Now THAT sounded familiar. He racked his brains for any memory of a Tsuna.

He remembered a Tsuna, a bullied kid that cried a lot. A kid that didn't have any friends because he was so unlucky.

Correction. Tsuna was a kid that he didn't have any friends…but Gokudera himself.

_Holy motherfucking crap._

He quickly turned his head towards the brown-haired kid.

_That…_

He facepalmed himself.

_I've been had._

xxx272727xxx

The reply came, and Tsuna eyed it nervously.

_Had it worked?_

Slowly, he opened it up, and he turned to Enma, who gave him a reassuring look.

He took a deep breath and peeked.

_You're not an UMA,_

_I-_

He stopped as he felt a hand grip his shoulder. A chill ran down his spine as he realised who it was.

"Sawada, why the _hell_ are you NOT reading your notes?"

xxx

A minute later, Tsuna was standing outside the classroom as a punishment for not reading his notes. He laughed bitterly. He hadn't finished reading the reply, and here he was.

Out of the blue, the door slid open rather violently and he put a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from squeaking in fright.

It was Gokudera.

He gulped. "H-Hi…"

The silver-haired teen was silent. He stood in front of Tsuna, as though pondering over something.

As though…examining him?

Tsuna put his fingers together nervously, playing with his sleeves. "Um…"

"You…"

Suddenly, Gokudera extended his arm and pulled Tsuna into a rough, one-armed hug, causing the brunette's eyes to widen and his cheeks to turn a bright shade of red.

"G-Gokudera-kun…"

"I remember you!" The half-Japanese drew away, exclaiming. "You're from my kindergarten from ten years ago; you're Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

His eyes softened.

"You were my boss when we played 'mafia', and you're a friend."

Tsuna stared at him, hardly daring to believe it.

"Y-You remember? Even our codenames?"

"Now I do!" He looked at his feet, seemingly downcast. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you when I first came into class; you look very much the same as you did before…"

"Ah! No! Y-You don't need to apologize!" Tsuna frantically waved his hands. "I-I'm just some kid that you used to play with-"

"No!" Gokudera interrupted. "You saved my life twice; how could I ever forget that?"

Saved his life twice…Tsuna closed his mouth.

Those two incidents were what had caused them to be friends. He would never forget it.

"…Gokudera-kun, I thought you had forgotten me."

Gokudera smiled very slightly as he turned to Tsuna.

"You were my best friend in kindergarten. You're important to me."

The brunette couldn't help but chuckle softly. "You were my first friend. You're important to me too."

"I'd never forget you, Tenth. Even after moving to Italy and not seeing you for nine years."

He smiled upon hearing his old nickname. "Y-You don't need to call me that anymore."

"No, I want to-" He paused as he spotted a bruise on the brunette's forehead. Eyes narrowing, he lifted Tsuna's fringe.

He frowned.

"Tenth, are you being bullied?"

xxx

Five minutes and a few stories later (still outside the classroom).

"They _what_?" Gokudera gasped before hardening his expression. "Those assholes better watch out."

"N-No, Gokudera-kun! It's okay! It's not like my life's endangered or anything!"

He gritted his teeth. "But Tenth! They're bullying you for no reason! They don't deserve the forgiveness you show towards their shitty, loser actions of violence towards you! Please, allow me to blow them up for you!"

Tsuna shook his head nervously. "I-It's totally alright, Gokudera-kun! Calm down, alright? If you're around, people won't bully me, be-because…"

_Because, Gokudera-kun, you're protective to the point of scary!_

He still remembered the time someone had scolded him for tripping and toppling over her toy castle, and said silver-haired boy had just stood up, walked over to the girl and yelled back at the girl until she cried.

"O-Oh, Gokudera-kun…" He tried to change the topic. "What are you doing outside of class?"

The silver-haired teen paused. "I threw a paper plane at sensei on purpose; I figured out that if I got out of class I could talk to you." He sighed. "So there wasn't a real UMA, was there?"

Tsuna scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "U-Uh, yeah, Gokudera-kun…I'm really sorry for tricking you like that! I thought that was the best way I could catch your attention!"

Gokudera couldn't help but smile. "It's okay, Tenth! I'm glad you remember me so well!"

It was funny; up to now, Gokudera hadn't changed very much. Tsuna smiled back, opening his mouth to reply-

The classroom door was flung open with a SLAM and Squalo-sensei stormed out. He turned to glare at the two boys.

"Voooiiii! The two of you!" He yelled. "Lesson's over, so get your damn ass back into class! You brats watch out next lesson!"

And with that, he walked, no, stormed away, books and a marker in hand.

"Che," Gokudera muttered. "What a loud ass. Next period's a free block, isn't it?"

"G-Gokudera-kun! Don't say that about our teacher!"

"But Tenth! It's true!"

"…That isn't the point…"

xxx000000xxx

It being a free block, most of the class had dispersed and joined their cliques to do whatever they did.

Enma sat in his seat, watching a few students file out of class.

Somehow, he'd been worried seeing the two get chased out of class. What if things didn't go as planned?

But, seeing the two return, both somewhat smiling, Enma was assured.

_That wasn't so bad, was it?_

"Tenth! I'll mark this important date on my calendar right away!"

"A-Alright, Gokudera-kun; calm down, please!"

"Haha, hey, Tsuna! The two of you know each other?"

"Y-You! Get away from the Tenth!"

Ah, class sure was lively.

As Tsuna got back into his seat, he leaned over.

"Tsuna-kun is a good UMA." He whispered teasingly, lips curved into a tiny smile.

The brown-haired teen's cheeks were scattered with pink. "E-Enma-kun!"

Enma's small smile remained on his face. "That went well."

Tsuna sighed. "I-It took a while…"

"But it worked, Tsuna-kun." He nodded in affirmation. "You weren't unlucky."

"O-oh…" Tsuna clamped his fingers together, cheeks still pink. "I guess so!"

"Tenth, who are you talking to?"

Enma kept silent, wary of the pair of emerald eyes fixed on him. Tsuna stood up, almost toppling the chair.

"G-Gokudera-kun! He's a friend; please don't beat him up!"

The transfer student paused as Enma's heart pounded against his ribcage rather violently.

"…You sure?"

"Y-Yes, Gokudera-kun; please put that stick of dynamite away!"

"Oh…of course, Tenth!" The redhead watched in astonishment as Gokudera-kun immediately shoved the dynamite (_why_ did he have dynamite) into his pocket and bowed. "I'm sorry!"

Tsuna looked flustered, sitting down again. "N-No wait! Don't apologize to me! I just wanted you to meet Enma-kun!" He pointed towards the redhead, who gulped.

"H-Hi…"

Gokudera turned to look at him. The pair of green eyes ran up and down, examining him.

"Why the _hell _do you have bandages all over you?"

Enma froze. "That's…because…"

"What?" His eyes narrowed. "Are you being bullied too?"

"I…"

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna interrupted hastily, sitting the transfer student into the seat opposite his.

That was when Enma realized that they were the only three in the class because nobody liked to stay in class for free block.

Tsuna took a deep breath.

"Gokudera-kun, this is Enma-kun. Enma-kun, this is Gokudera-kun."

Enma timidly raised a hand. "Hi…"

The silver-haired teen sighed in response. "Che. As long as you're not harassing the Tenth."

The redhead nodded slowly. That probably meant acceptance.

He hoped.

"A-Anyway!" Tsuna stuttered nervously. "Y-Yeah, I hope we can get along…"

"Wait." Gokudera spoke firmly. "Why are the two of you getting beaten up all the time?"

Enma bit his lip as he turned to Tsuna, who shook his head frantically. "Ah! It's no big deal!"

After all, there wasn't much of an explanation to that. They were small-sized and easy to bully. End of answer.

Added to the fact that they were very unlucky people thanks to a _certain _curse.

Gokudera frowned. "It is a big deal, Tenth." His eyes shot towards the redhead. "You too, shrimp. Bullying is a serious issue!"

"N-No, we're fine…" Tsuna protested weakly, but faltered under his old friend's determined stare.

"Tenth." The half-Italian rested a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "If you get hurt, I'll be there to help you. And I'll send those assholes that dare touch you to hell. Is that okay?"

"T-To hell?"

"And you-" He glared at Enma, who tensed up again. Seeing that slight shudder, Gokudera sighed as his eyes softened very slightly.

"Pathetic. Don't get in the Tenth's way. Ever. Or I'll just have to blow you up after saving your ass."

"...O...Okay..."

From then on, Enma knew, primarily, three things.

One. Gokudera was generally scary, and carried bombs around with him. Oh, and he was popular with girls.

Two. Tsuna trusted Gokudera, and vice-versa. Nine years apart hadn't weakened their bond at all.

Three. He wasn't sure if Gokudera was his friend, but he knew he could count on not being beaten up by him.

Life…was complicated.

xxx

School had ended, and Tsuna stood outside his house, facepalming.

He'd been locked out of his own house. _Again._

Because his dear, responsible cousin had so conveniently forgotten to pass him a house key before he had left the house.

_Sheesh, REBORN!_

Leaning against the wall, the brunette took out his handphone. Being a hand-me-down, it was scratched here and somehow dented there, but, considering all that, it was in a pretty good condition.

He put his schoolbag down and sat on the steps, dialing a number.

"…_Hello?"_

"Enma-kun? I got locked out of my house…"

"…_Oh…Meet me at the junction; you can come to my house…"_

"O-Okay. Will be there. Thanks, Enma-kun!"

"…_No problem. Umm, Adelheid's at home, too…just to let you know."_

"Alright…See you!"

"_Mmmm…See you."_

The phone beeped, signaling the end of a call. Tsuna pressed another button before calling someone else.

Someone he wasn't that happy with.

"_...Hello, Dame-Tsuna?"_

"Reborn! I'm locked out of the house again!"

"_So? Isn't that your fault?"_

"N-No! You were supposed to pass me the key this morning!"

"_Well, you forgot to ask me for it."_

"H-Hey! You're responsible, too!"

"_I won't be home till seven. You can spend your time outside before I get back. Bye."_

"No, wait- REBORN!"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Tsuna gave an exasperated sigh.

_Don't hang up on me like that, Reborn…_

With that, he kept his phone and picked his bag up, inwardly wishing that Reborn would…develop a large pimple on his nose or something.

Hopefully, three hours at Enma's house would be productive of some sorts…

* * *

Okay. That wasn't a very good chapter; I'm really sorryT.T

If you're wondering about their back stories, I'll get to it in later chapters, promise. Next chapter will probably be a shorter one involving just Enma and Tsuna:)

Reviewing would make me happier than you think:) If you're confused or you find any mistakes, please leave a comment as well! I'll be happy to answer any questions:)

Now, off to school, studies and other miserable stuff. Love you guys very much!


	6. Just your typical Tuesday afternoon

**YO GUYS; I AM ALIVE:D** Well, I haven't touched my fanfiction since last month 'cause of exams, and now that they're over, I can't seem to remember what I wanted to writeT.T So, so sorry, but this chapter will be lousy…

Gah, I feel awful that I can't write a good chapter to make up for my absence! For that, I'll do something nice (like, a sketch or a oneshot fic) for the 35th reviewer of this fic, because 35 is a magical number. Not. But anyway, yeah, I should do something for you guys!

(Is assuming she'll reach the 35 mark by the end of this chapter…^-^)

So, I'm going to start thanking everyone from this chapter onwards! Shout-out to reviewers **Apple of Doom**, **tsunafan**, **R4PID** (who wasn't logged in), **Tsukiko Ichihara**, **Crimson Cupcake **and **. O. Another.O.**! Thanks so much for your reviews:)

Replying to **tsunafan**: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're going to follow my story:) I'll try my best to improve as I go along!

Replying to **R4PID**: Heehee YAY for Gokudera! Well, you'll just have to scroll down and read for yourself now:D

Aaaand dudes who favorited and/or subscribed: **. o . AlwaysAnother . o ., 1827Sano1813, Akiko Ushi-chan, Apple of Doom, bluewingervampyre69, doremishine itsuko, Genis Reigal – Element Star, GoFusaeGo, Happily Awesome, hazuki175, LilyMoonstone, luna faith90, marsnmonkey, Pockylover09, sakuramiyuki0, ShiroAmashi, Song of the Cursed Child, Tsukiko Ichihara, 18Skylark18, Amy-chan123, blacklightningwolf, captivated fairy, Crimson Cupcake, GrayHeart, Hevimankeli, KuroiWing, mei-tan13, rainbow muffinman, reader713, tokidoki-chan **and** Yuki949**! (Tell me if I left any of you out!)

Alright, we'll start for real now! Disclaimer: KHR doesn't belong to me!

* * *

chapter 6: Tuesday Afternoon

Tsuna hesitated as his finger lingered over the doorbell.

This _was_ where Enma lived, right? He didn't want to ring someone else's doorbell and get into trouble for that.

And yes, it was possible to get into trouble for ringing the wrong doorbell; Tsuna had confirmed that from his past experiences.

Gulping, he pressed the bell lightly.

Nothing happened.

Maybe he'd call Enma-

"Tsunayoshi."

"HIIIEEE!" The brunette spun around, only to see a tall female standing in front of him.

"A-Adelheid-san!"

She ran a finger through her hair. "The doorbell doesn't work; it's been spoilt for a while already. I heard you were locked out."

"O-Oh…that…yes, actually…"

Sighing, Adelheid turned and opened the door.

"Come in."

Tsuna nodded timidly. "O-Okay."

Taking off his shoes, he stepped into the house, eyeing Adelheid nervously. The stairs creaked and he looked up, almost in relief.

"Enma! I-I'm sorry I had to come over; I can't get into my house…"

_Because of Reborn…_Pushing that thought out of his head, he bowed sheepishly towards his classmate.

"So…where should I…stand?"

The redhead walked down and tapped Tsuna's shoulder lightly. "Let's go to my room." He turned his head towards his sister, whose back was against them, before going back up the stairs, this time with Tsuna. Closing the door behind him silently, Enma sighed.

"I'm sorry, my sister's sort of scary…"

"N-No!" Tsuna shook his head. "Adelheid-san's nice!" _And really tall and scary but I don't think I should say that._

"…It's okay. She scares me too." The redhead smiled just slightly as he sat down next to his table, Tsuna following suit. "Do you know how to do question two for the math worksheet we were given today?"

The brunette looked up. "We have math homework?"

"…Oh…"

Ten minutes later, the two sat at opposite ends of the table, math worksheets sprawled on its surface. Tsuna groaned.

"Enma, I don't understand a thing! This is really bad!" He glanced at the redhead. "Do you have any idea how to simplify this?"

He shook his head. "…I'm sorry."

"A-Ah! No! Don't be sorry!" Tsuna picked up the question paper. "Let's go through it again-"

"Do you need help?"

The brunette spun around. "Adelheid-san?"

"No, I'm a cheeseburger. Please do not forget I live in this house as well." She folded her arms as Tsuna attempted to reply, and spoke again. "I will repeat myself. Do you need help with those math questions?"

Upon seeing her, Enma shook his head. "No, it's alright…aren't you busy?"

"Not now." The female raised an eyebrow. "And no, the two of you are stuck at question two." Taking the piece of paper out of Tsuna's hands, she read the question they had problems with before shaking her head.

"Really, Enma, this is easy."

The brunette could almost see his friend stiffen. "It's easy for you to say that, Adelheid."

She laid the paper back onto the table before taking a pencil out of her brother's pencil box. "Either way, I will explain this to you." She scribbled the equation onto a corner of Enma's worksheet, along with some workings. "Just factorize this, then substitute this value into the other equation. You can remove the square root from this side of the equation, then apply this theory in order to find this unknown. And…" She added the final workings to her solution before turning to face the two high-schoolers. "Got it?"

_Sort of. Maybe. Uh, not really, actually. _Tsuna sighed, looking down at the equations which seemed like ancient hieroglyphics to him. "Ummm…thanks, Adelheid-san."

Enma glanced at her silently before nodding twice. The tall female nodded back before heading back out of the door.

"I'll be downstairs if you need any help. Oh, and-" She paused at the doorway, hand lingering beside the doorknob. "you haven't lost the list I gave you, right?"

_Eh? The list-OH. _Tsuna turned to Enma, who reached into his pocket and fished it out. "It's still intact."

"Good." With that, she closed the door, leaving the two alone.

Tsuna reached for the paper. "Adelheid-san is good at math," he said thoughtfully. The redhead nodded slowly.

"Too good."

Smoothening out his worksheet, he ran through Adelheid's workings before saying, "She's a graduate from a top university; as expected of her…"

At once, Tsuna thought of himself and Reborn, and their…disparity. "I-It sorta sucks, eh..."

"Mmmm..."

A brief silence.

"…Tsuna, can we not do math for now?"

"O-Okay…" Being more than glad to keep math away, he quickly took his organization file out and dumped his math worksheet in it while running his fingers through the individual folders, finding more fantastically fun homework to complete.

"Actually, we do have a history assignment…"

_Come again? _"Wait…w-we have history homework too?" Tsuna stared at him. "Hiiieeee! I didn't know!"

Enma paused. "Well…you were standing outside class…"

_Oh. Right. _The brown-haired teen turned to his classmate. "What do we need to do?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing much, just a summary of the notes." Holding up his half-done summary, he added, "It's pairwork, so you can be my partner for this assignment, Tsuna…"

"A-Ah! It's okay!" Tsuna waved his hands frantically. "I don't want to be a freeloader!"

The redhead shrugged. "It's no problem…you can help me with the rest of the summary, because I've already done half of it…" He pointed at where he had ended off. "There: it's about the Russian Revolution. We just need to elaborate on World War I and the Tsar…"

_Tsar? _"Sorry Enma, I haven't read the notes…" _So I have no idea what the Russian Revolution is about! _He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "It seems like you're good at history!"

He turned the faintest tinge of pink. "…N-not really…it's just that I read the notes in class…"

"Well, better than me…?" Tsuna laughed awkwardly.

Enma smiled slightly at that.

xxx

With history being history thirty-five minutes later, Tsuna felt accomplished. The history summary hadn't been as hard as expected, and now they weren't going to be killed by Squalo-sensei, who seemed very much capable of killing anyone.

He turned to Enma gratefully. "Thanks, Enma! I told you you're good at history!"

Enma's ears turned pink. "It's nothing…" he mumbled, keeping the summary before realizing the list Adelheid had given them just last week was still on the table. He picked it up and motioned for Tsuna to come over.

"Tsuna…what exactly are we going to do about the curse?"

"H-Hiiieeee?" He stared at him, startled. "W-Why so sudden?"

Enma sighed. "I don't know…I guess there's no harm talking about it now…" He rolled up his pant leg to reveal the familiar mark on his knee. "After all, the only people who know what this really is would be you, Adelheid and Reborn…"

Tsuna nodded, checking his shoulder for confirmation. "So…what was on the list again?"

"Uhhh…" Enma looked down. "There are the items we need to collect from friends, and the…tracing...which involves blood…?" He shivered. "it says 'blueberry jam' here, but my sister said that in actuality, it's subjective…" Frowning, he ran a hand through his hair. "Tsuna, I don't really get it…"

"Neither do I…" Tsuna threw his hands up. "This is terrible; we barely have friends! And what does she mean by 'friends' here, anyway?"

"I don't know…" Enma tilted his head slightly. "I guess...a bond."

_A special bond that can only be understood by the people who share it. Yes, that's what friendship is._

"EH-oh. Actually, t-that sorta makes sense!" Tsuna smiled very slightly. "I'm glad we have at least a few friends, like...each other, and Yamamoto, and Gokudera..."

Inside, his heart warmed, thinking about the friendly baseballer that had accepted them

so easily, and his old friend who hadn't forgotten him at all. He really was glad that he and Enma had made friends.

Enma shifted in his seat. "...I...I don't think I'm really a friend...to Gokudera..."

The brunette laughed. "Heh...G-Gokudera's just like that. D-Don't take it to heart! I mean, if he really h-hated you he'd have blown you up or something!" Seeing the blank expression on his friend's face, he tried to correct himself. "Ah! No, wait! Gokudera would never blow you up! I-I mean, he doesn't show his affection for anyone at all! Excluding me...but wait, no, ignore that!" Tsuna's cheeks flushed pink as he ruffled his own hair.

"I...understand." The redhead smiled at his flustered friend. "I trust him. It's alright."

"O-Oh." Tsuna seemed embarrassed. "I-I'm glad you trust him. He's a very nice person." _Just very overprotective and intimidating!_

"I guess so, Tsuna..." Enma sighed. "...Does he know about...you know..." He shifted his knee. "I mean...has anyone ever questioned you about it?"

He glanced at his shoulder for a moment.

Well, yes, people had actually made fun of him about it when he was a kid. A lot.

He had never known why it was so funny, but, well...now that he knew it was the sign of a curse, teasing and bullying could be seen as the 'effects' of it, and well, he couldn't change that, could he.

He smiled softly.

"A-Actually, Enma, that was sort of how I made friends with Gokudera."  
_  
_xxxFLASHBACKxxx

_A brown-haired child ambled along the corridor behind a crowd of noisier, wilder kids._

_They were on the way back to class._

_This was kindergarten, and they were all less than five years old._

_And everybody was walking along nicely, until Tsuna tripped and pushed the whole row of children down like a domino chain._

"_OI! Who pushed me!"_

"_Not me!"_

"_It has to be Dame-Tsuna!"_

_The brunette's large eyes widened. "I-I'm so sorry!" He squeaked, bowing to the rest of the class, including the sensei._

"_Ah, Tsunayoshi-kun, it's alright!" The kindergarten teacher smiled kindly, forgiving the child. "Let's continue back to class, shall we?" Turning around, she led the little children through the door, ruffling Tsuna's hair affectionately as he passed._

_Later on, Tsuna sat in a corner, playing with Lego pieces by himself as he built a small tower._

_He liked it when he was alone-_

"_Oi, Dame-Tsuna!"_

_A rough-looking boy walked over and, much to his dismay, knocked his tower down._

"_You knocked me down, and it's an eye for an eye!" Seeing the small brunette's eyes brim with tears, he went on. "You're so scrawny, I bet you don't have any muscle!" He tugged on Tsuna's jacket, causing Tsuna to panic._

"_N-No, I-" Instinctively, he brushed the hand off, hugging his shoulder close to him. "P-Please don't touch me!"_

_The boy grinned. "Dame-Tsuna, you're hiding something!" He grabbed Tsuna's arm and tried taking his jacket off. Being the stronger of the two, that was done quite easily, and Tsuna was left in his t-shirt and shorts. _

_If he had been a normal kid, that would have been alright. But for Tsuna, it spelt vulnerability. Seeing that his jacket had been taken away, he turned around, hand on his left shoulder. "G-Give it back, p-please!"_

_But the boy had seen the hand covering his shoulder, and his grin widened further as curiosity kicked in. He lunged forward, grabbing Tsuna's left sleeve._

"_Nyahaha! I got your sleeve, Tsuna! You always a jacket like you're hiding something!"_

"_T-That's because...!" Tsuna attempted to make the kid let go of him, but it failed, and the boy quickly pushed his arm away to lift his sleeve._

_There was silence for a brief second as his eyes met a dark purple swirl._

_The boy yelled in shock, letting go, dropping his jacket on the floor. _

"_Tsuna, you-you're a freak!"_

_He ran to his friends._

"_Tsuna's a monster! He has a mark to prove it!"_

_And that really hurt the little, brown-haired child._

_Crying, he grabbed his jacket and ran out of the room despite the teacher's worried call._

"_Tsunayoshi-kun, wait!"_

_._

_._

_Tsuna sat outside in his own spot, wiping his tears away, jacket by his side. He'd been the first to find this spot, a beautiful place where he was able to see the sky and clouds, and it was right next to the azure lake that was situated beside his kindergarten. Nobody else went here; it was his little secret. His sensei would never find him here._

_Suddenly, he heard a grumble. Someone else was around as well?_

_Looking up and glancing around, he noticed a boy not too far from him. The boy wasn't Japanese, as he had gray-silver hair with green eyes; and he sat next to the lake, flipping pebbles._

_He wiped his tears. _

_That boy seemed sad. Why was he all alone?_

_The boy got up and turned, catching a glimpse of Tsuna. For a moment, their eyes met, and the boy glared fiercely as if telling him to 'go away', but Tsuna shook his head stubbornly, not wanting to go back and be shunned by the other children because they knew about that hideous, terribly dark-looking mark on his left shoulder. He shook his head, avoiding further eye-contact with the silver-haired kid as he stood up._

"_Che, I-" The boy was cut off abruptly by a loss of footing, and he panicked, falling headfirst into the lake._

_Tsuna gasped._

_And for an odd reason, he found himself running to the edge of the pond and attempting to grab hold of the boy, who struggled to keep afloat. _

_In a frenzy, he reached out for the drowning boy's flailing arm and, with difficulty, pulled him closer to the bank and eventually onto the grass. Panting for air, he collapsed on his knees as the other boy gasped, sitting up at once while feeling his wet clothes and hair._

_How in the world had that happened?_

_Green eyes met brown, and the boy took a deep breath._

"_Thank you…for saving me…"_

_The brunette's eyes widened. "N-No!" He squeaked. "I-I didn't know what came over me; I-I just r-ran over and…" He trailed off, realising what had just happened._

_Somehow, the boy was thanking him. Thanking HIM._

_He fell into silence. _

_Brilliantly green eyes shone, and the boy stood up. "I'm Gokudera Hayato and I go to this kindergarten too. What's your name?"_

"_S-Sawada Tsunayoshi…"_

_Gokudera extended his still-sopping-wet arm to him and bowed deeply._

"_Please be my friend! I owe you my life!"_

_The small brunette stared at the hand, unsure of what to do. Nobody had ever asked him to be a friend…_

"_E-Even if I have this mark on my shoulder?"_

_He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the queer mark on his left shoulder._

_The silver-haired kid stared at it._

"_It doesn't matter."_

_Eh? Tsuna sniffed, rubbing his eyes. "B-But I'm a f-freak…"_

"_No! You're not!" The other boy shook his head firmly. "You saved my life, and now we're going to be friends, even if other people think you are a freak."_

_He took hold of Tsuna's hand and pulled him up._

"_You're not a freak; freaks don't save people's lives. And besides-" He grinned. "the mark's cool."_

_Fresh tears welled up in his eyes._

"_T-Thank you, Gokudera-kun…"_

_Out of the blue, he heard a familiar voice calling out. _

"_Oh, Tsunayoshi-kun! Where are you? Please don't run away!"_

_His teacher. "T-That's Ami-sense!"_

_The silver-haired boy sighed.. _

"_He's here, aho-sensei."_

"_H-Hayato-kun?" The teacher ran towards the two. "Where have you been? You went missing in the morning, and Marie-sensei was worried! And why are you wet?"_

"_Whatever, Ami-sensei." He rolled his eyes."And about that…"_

_He turned to Tsuna, who shook his head frantically, not wanting to create a big fuss. _

_Turning back to the teacher, he smirked, squeezing some water out of his clothes. _

"_Sensei doesn't need to know."_

_xxx_

"W-Well, my story's weird!" Tsuna laughed. "But I guess…that incident paid off…" He glanced at Enma, who seemed rather amused. "E-Eh? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," He said, smiling gently. "That was a good story, Tsuna. It's better than mine."

Tsuna stared at him curiously. "T-Then, what's your story, Enma?"

"Mmmm…" He shook his head. "It's nothing much. I'll tell you some other time…"

Choosing not to bother him about his childhood, the brown-haired teen looked down at the table, and his eyes lingered towards his barely-done math worksheet.

Well, there wasn't math class tomorrow. Nevermind about that worksheet for now.

All of a sudden, they heard a knock on the door, and it opened , revealing an orange-black fedora.

"I'm here to pick you up, No Good-Tsuna."

"H-HIIIEEEEE?" Tsuna sprang up, grabbing his stuff and dumping his papers into his file. "R-REBORN? WHO LET YOU IN? AND HOW DID YOU KNOW I'M HERE?"

The tall Italian shrugged his shoulders. "Instinct. Oh, I don't know…I broke in through the kitchen." Seeing his cousin's paling face, he sighed. "Of course not; Adelheid let me in. C'mon, let's go."

"I-I thought you were only going to be back at seven!"

He smirked. "Times change, Tsuna. My meeting was rescheduled to next week. Now get a move on." He turned to Enma. "We'll see you, Enma."

"Y-Yeah…" The brunette put the last of his things in his bag before waving to Enma, thanking him for their hospitality. Enma gave him a last smile before closing the door.

It had only been five days since their first encounter with each other, but talking with Tsuna and laughing with him felt…very natural.

_Sigh._

The door opened once again, and Enma swiftly glanced up. "…Adelheid?"

"Tomorrow's the 19th." She leaned against the doorway, looking expectantly at her brother. "Yes?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We'll visit them like we do every year."

"Good. So don't forget to buy flowers after school tomorrow, okay?"

"…I'll do that."

She closed the door again, and the redhead ran a hand through his hair.

The 19th, eh?

He'd never forget.

* * *

And…that was chapter six! –gets shot for lousiness of chapter-

Well…tell me what you think is going to happen. Oh, and sorry about the math and history stuffT.T Post-exam stress! I'm also so, so sorry for any extreme OOC-ness.

Chapter 7 should be up by the end of next week (if I don't get a mental block)! See you guys soon:D

love, m. dtk


	7. Under their Umbrella

**News update! I hope you've been noticing the xxx[insert character number thrice here]xxx line breaks in the past chapters; it's to show whose POV it's being written in. I will be writing in both 1****st**** person and 3****rd**** person, depending on the situation; hope you guys won't get confused! **

**Oh, and from this chapter onwards, I'll be breaking my chapters up for easier reading and following! Meaning that you'll find out about the 19****th**** IN CHAPTER 8 AND NOT THIS CHAPTER. Sorry dears!**

**ANYWAY, WE HAVE OUR 35th REVIEWER: YuuYuu-chan! Thanks for being my 35th! Review this chapter and give me something to do while I'm on holiday...like, a oneshot, or random fanartXD **

**I won't be doing ****chapterly ****shout-outs anymore (next shout-out at chapter 10!), but I really want you guys to know that I am very grateful for all of your support, and that your reviews really make me happy:D  
**

**I'm pretty frustrated at myself: it's taking me AGES to update 'cause my creative juices are running low…so you readers deserve a big group hug and some extra random crackfic!**

…**Which I will get to writing after I finish chapter 8. For now, though, please enjoy chapter 7^-^

* * *

**

Chapter 7

Under their umbrella (or lack thereof)

* * *

Wednesday.

Tsuna gripped the straps of his backpack rather nervously as he walked out of his house. The sky was dark. And scary. And cloudy and eerie-looking. Did he mention dark?

"Have a good day at school." Reborn smirked, walking alongside him to the next junction, where they would part ways that morning. Tsuna frowned.

"You don't mean that at all, do you?"

His cousin shrugged. "What do you think? Oh yeah-" He tossed Tsuna a brown paper bag, watching amusedly as the brunette squeaked and lunged for it, falling flat on his face in the process. "Keep that."

"O-Ow…Reborn!" He got to his feet, rubbing his bruised nose as he attempted to glare (failing miserably, of course) at the Italian. "W-What was THAT for?"

"Your reaction's funny." He stated simply.

"R-REBORN! D-Don't say that…" Tsuna heaved in as he tried to ignore the pain his rather red face was experiencing. "Okay, what _exactly_ is this for?"

The fedora-sporting man's smirk remained on his face. "You'll find out."

…_Eh? _The teen peered into the bag, but was promptly stopped by a gun to the head. "I said, _you'll find out._"

"HIIIIEEEEE!" Tsuna screamed and ran a few meters away from his cousin. "D-DON'T DO THAT!"

A click, and much to Tsuna's relief, the gun was inserted back into his pocket. Reborn sighed.

"There's no point in me shooting you, is there? Just get to school."

And with a wave of the hand, he turned round the corner and disappeared from sight, leaving Tsuna alone. The brunette exhaled and walked on, this time with the mysterious paper bag in his right hand.

What _was_ inside, anyway? He was sorely tempted to take a peek, but he knew better than to defy Reborn.

THE Reborn who was entirely capable of reading his mind and planning punishments like a Spartan.

Nope. Peeking was a bad idea.

Tsuna dumped the paper bag inside his schoolbag before walking on. At once, his phone beeped, signifying the arrival of a new message from none other than his lovely cousin.

_I hope you brought your keys._

After yesterday, Tsuna had most definitely remembered his house keys. He patted his right pocket in confirmation as he replied with a faint smile.

_Of course I did! I'm not THAT big of an idiot!_

Immediately came the reply.

_Who knows?_

_REBORN! _

He typed that in before realizing how stupid it would be to waste money on a one-word reply that didn't need to be said.

Thus, he backspaced and promptly slotted his phone into his pocket. His cousin would get the message. Shivering as he noticed a black cat crossing the road at the opposite junction, he quickened his steps towards he and Enma's meeting point as he remembered what his dad had told him years ago:

'_If you see a black cat, you'll have BAD, BAAAAAAD luck, Tsuna.'_

_Gee, thanks, Dad._

_.  
_

xxx000000xxx

.

Enma looked up as he heard thunder from afar. The sky was gloomy, and the air was cold. He shivered.

Today was the nineteenth. Not that there was anything special about it, was there? The redhead leaned against the traffic light, sighing. The weather was depressing, and it was getting to him.

It was about to rain.

Again.

Running his fingers through his hair absent-mindedly, he closed an eye. He'd have to tell Tsuna he needed to leave school early today when he came. Speaking of which…

"E-Enma!" Opening his eye, he turned around to see said brunette running towards him. "Sorry for keeping you waiting!"

_Ah. _"Good morning, Tsuna…" He smiled very slightly as Tsuna screeched to a halt in front of him, panting for breath. "You didn't need to rush at all…"

"H-Heh…" Tsuna smiled back sheepishly. "G-Good morning…l-let's get to school before it rains!"

"Alright - eh?" Enma held his hand out as a drop of water landed on his nose.

Not before long, another drop landed on his palm. And another. And another.

The brunette gulped as Enma withdrew his rather wet palm.

"Tsuna…we should hurry."

.

xxx595959xxx

.

"VOOOOOOIIII!" Squalo-sensei slammed his hand on the teacher's table furiously. "Why the hell do we have such poor attendance today?"

Yamamoto raised his hand. "Sensei, maybe it's because everybody caught a cold from the rain today."

"Shut up, Pansy." The teacher sent a death glare at the baseballer, who laughed, oblivious towards the blatant insult. "We'll be taking attendance now, so RAISE YOU HAND WHEN I CALL YOUR DAMN NAME, ALRIGHT?"

Gokudera shook his head, facepalming himself as the _idiot_ sitting next to him cheerily nodded before asking him, "Why so serious, Gokudera?"

"_Because,_" The silver-haired teen gritted his teeth. "You're really stupid, you know that?"

He laughed. "You're a funny guy!"

"…Just shut up." _And jump off a cliff, PLEASE. _Ignoring the baseballer, he turned towards the window. The Tenth wasn't here yet, and he was sorely tempted to walk out of school with an umbrella and shelter him to school…from wherever the Tenth was.

Oh, and that redhead too.

"Aaaannndddd…SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI!" Squalo roared as he glanced around.

No response. A vein popped.

"He ain't here, eh?"

_BAM!_ The door slid open in a rush and two familiar figures were seen leaning against the doorway, panting.

"A-Actually (hah), sensei…(hah)…we're (hah) right h-here…"

_TENTH! _Gokudera's eyes lit up as he heard a familiar voice. He turned to the doorway, where Tsuna and Enma stood, and waved enthusiastically at the brunette, who tried to wave back, but was interrupted by a loud yell from none other than their lovely form teacher.

"SAWADA AND FRIEND! YOOOUUU-" He yelled, stating the obvious. "ARE LATE! Why the hell are you late AND soaking wet?"

Underneath the table, the half-Italian gripped the sticks of dynamite he had prepared for situations such as of present, struggling to keep himself seated calmly as he realized that blowing the classroom up wouldn't be very safe.

For him and the Tenth, that is.

His brows narrowed dangerously as he muttered, "Fucking sensei…"

"Now now, Gokudera, that's not exactly the righ-_mmph_!"As soon as Yamamoto opened his mouth to correct his colorful language, Gokudera had slammed his palm onto the baseballer's mouth, effectively shutting him up before anyone else (namely, HIM) got into any more trouble.

Luckily, their tiny commotion hadn't been noticed.

Tsuna still stood at the doorway with Enma behind him, frozen under Squalo's murderous glare, and the silver-haired teen actually began re-contemplating his original idea of sending a stick of dynamite into the teacher's face.

That was when Enma spoke up. "We're sorry…we got caught in the rain…" He pointed towards the window with one hand, fiddling nervously with his hoodie zip with the other as their sensei sighed.

"Alright; we're issuing umbrellas for the whole damn school next time. GET YOUR ASSES TO YOUR SEATS NOW."

"T-Thank you, Squalo-sensei!" Grabbing Enma by the wrist, Tsuna bowed hurriedly and the two rushed back to their seats without any further harm done, to Gokudera's relief.

He'd save his dynamite for another day…like, tomorrow.

.

xxx272727xxx

.

I stood at the doorway, feet rooted to the ground, still slightly out of breath from running to school. I didn't dare to move, and neither did Enma.

Squalo-sensei's glare was undeniably scary.

I gulped, not knowing how to voice our apology. And how to explain why we were wet, since it should have been pretty obvious.

BUT! I wasn't about to go against my form teacher, was I?

My eyes darted towards Gokudera for a second, afraid that he would, in a fury, grab sticks of dynamite and fling it at sensei's face. Gladly, he seemed to be keeping himself under control.

For now.

A tiny whimper emerged from my throat as I attempted to speak under sensei's murderous gaze.

Then, much to my relief, Enma spoke from behind me, indirectly saving our lives.

"We're sorry…we got caught in the rain…"

Not daring to turn away from sensei, I heard the faint jingle of a zip from behind me, and I knew he was fiddling with his hoodie again. Squalo-sensei groaned.

"_Fucking rain…_Alright; we're issuing umbrellas for the whole damn school next time. GET YOUR ASSES TO YOUR SEATS NOW."

At that moment, I was actually very, very relieved.

"T-Thank you, Squalo-sensei!" Grabbing Enma by the wrist, I bowed hurriedly to avoid eye contact and practically dragged him back to our seats, where I scrambled to take out my textbooks in a rather pathetic effort to rid myself of the embarrassment of being late AND entirely wet. I took a glance at Enma, mouthing a _sorry_ as I shook my head, sending drops of water flying onto my desk. He smiled faintly as he took his hoodie off and wrung his sleeve, letting drops of rainwater fall to the ground.

I exchanged greetings with Gokudera and Yamamoto, who seemed to be quarrelling – no wait, it was just Gokudera. I shivered as I spotted sticks of explosives hidden underneath his desk, and I was suddenly glad that Enma had spoken up on time.

First period passed by quickly, with our (moody) teacher teaching us with occasional outbursts of _ARE YOU TWERPS LISTENING TO ME _and _SHUT THE FUCK UP, WILL YOU._

Oh, and the _VOOOOOIIIII_s.

The bell rang, signaling the end of our first class, and I stood up slowly, glad that I was no longer wet. Turning to face Enma, he met my eye and tugged at his shirt gently, telling me that he was dry too.

That was when I discovered that the paper bag Reborn had passed to me that morning was on my desk, next to my pencil box. Looks like I had absent-mindedly taken it out while rummaging for my stuff.

I looked at my timetable.

It was going to be Philosophy class next, and I had a pretty uneasy feeling about it.

.

xxx272727xxx

.

"Right, damn class." Squalo-sensei's glare swept the room as he neared the exit. "There's a new teacher coming in right after this, so YOU ALL BETTER FUCKING BEHAVE. Got it, kiddos?"

He was met with fearful nods which he took as a big, fat YES.

"Fine. He'll introduce himself now."

Tsuna gulped, earning a questioning look from Enma. "N-Nothing…" The brunette sighed. Really, though, he didn't know why he felt so nervous.

The door slid opened, and a few girls in class squealed.

For the man that walked-no, waltzed in was, simply put, a white-haired pretty boy. Man. Whatever.

But truly, he almost didn't seem human. He had pure white hair and a jagged purple mark underneath his left eye, ripped jeans and shirt hanging from his lanky frame as he merrily strode in with nothing but a marker in hand.

And he turned, giving the class a serene smile as Squalo-sensei groaned in exasperation.

"You know what? I'll be taking my fucking leave now."

And he promptly strode out of class, his long, silver hair disappearing from sight.

Silence fell as the new teacher tapped his marker on the table in rhythm, smiling widely.

"Hi there. I'm Byakuran, and I teach Philosophy."

...

Gokudera rolled his eyes.

"What kind of a stupid name is that?"

"Ahaha! Good one, Gokudera!" The baseballer laughed cheerily, earning a scowl from the silver-haired teen.

"G-Gokudera!" Tsuna whispered. "M-Maybe you shouldn't say t-that out loud…"

"Eh?" The half-Italian seemed surprised. "But why not, Tenth?"

_Because he might get angry, Gokudera! ANGRY!_

"Oh, are there people talking at the back of the class?"

The brunette froze as light laughter filled the room.

"This class smells sweet!" Byakuran sang, eyes immediately making contact with _the paper bag on Tsuna's desk_. He turned, and, much to Tsuna's horror, kept his marker in his pocket and began walking towards his desk - no, HIM!

Eyes widening, the brunette could only stare in silence as their new sensei placed two fingers on his desk, which painstakingly made their way towards the mysterious brown bag.

"The smell's coming from here~"

Just when he thought it couldn't get more disturbing, IT DID.

The young man flashed another smile at him as he dug his hand into the paper bag, bringing out a fistful of marshmallows and a tiny note. Popping the tiny marshmallows into his mouth one by one, he read the note and _giggled_.

"Your cousin is hilarious, Tsunayoshi-kun…"

Leaning closer, he whispered, "Say hello to him for me, will you?"

…_H-HIIIEEEEE? M-My cousin, meaning…Reborn? And what does t-that have anything to do with me? _The brunette resisted the urge to scream as he glanced nervously at the teacher who had just _seated himself on his desk_. He quickly took a look at Gokudera, who was fuming…with sticks of dynamite stuck between his fingers.

_N-noooo; put the dynamite down, Gokudera! _

"H-How do you know my name…and R-Reborn?" He stuttered, attempting to simultaneously signal his childhood friend to put his weapons down.

He grinned. "It's because I do, Tsunayoshi-kun! Oh right-" Byakuran-sensei grabbed another handful of marshmallows before jumping off his table, tossing the small note back onto the desk and practically skipping back to the front of the class. "The rest are yours to keep, 'cause I need to start this lesson right now~"

Tsuna stared at him in disbelief and utter shock before slowly turning to Enma, who sighed and shook his head.

"We get the _best _teachers…" He whispered. The brunette couldn't help but smile faintly at that remark before turning to Gokudera, who still looked livid.

"Uhh…G-Gokudera?"

He was met with a very serious face.

"Tenth…would you like me to get rid of that pervert?"

_No, Gokudera; just think about it! I know he's really freaky, but I don't think blowing him up is the best solution! _Tsuna attempted to voice his thoughts, but all that came out was, "N-No! I know…he…uhh…ahh, it's okay, Gokudera."

There were a lot of things he'd need to discuss with Reborn when he got home later.

Tsuna sighed inwardly as he gingerly folded the note and tucked it into his pocket. He'd concentrate on the lesson first.

Whipping out his marker, the new teacher drew a globe in the middle of the board.

"Now, class, what is that?"

A random student in the second row raised his hand. "The world?"

Byakuran beamed. "Correct! It is, in fact, our world. It is my world…and yours."

He leaned against the table and took a deep breath, once again smiling expectantly at the class.

"Now, my dear new class, tell me; what do you think of the concept of parallel universes?"

* * *

**A/N: **

**Sorry, I just couldn't resist adding him in; I planned it from the start. Creating a relationship between him and Byakuran was something that occurred to me just today, though. I'd like to explore Reborn's social circle a bit, and I felt that making this connection would be interesting:) **

**Heehee imma be keeping you guys waiting for another chapter! I promise that the next chapter will be more Enma-focused:D**

**Thanks so much for your support; I'm glad I've reached chapter 7! There will be much, much more to come, since I'm going to slow the pace of the story down a bit. Hope you'll stick around for the chapters to come!**

**I'll post chapter 8 soon, because I'll be leaving for a three-week overseas immersion trip in exactly one week and I don't want you guys waiting one month for an Enma-packed chapter~**

**Love, m. dtk!**

**My author's notes are really long. I keep on telling myself to cut down but I always feel the need to explain the chapter…**


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